Conflict of Interest
by PMOHWinters
Summary: As a Covenant civil war rages upon the surface of Karth, a lone Marine unit finds itself stuck in the middle of the conflict confused and alone. Little do the Marines know that they may play a huge role in the fate of this alien world. COMPLETE
1. We're Not in Kansas Anymore

AN: Well here we are folks, we're finally nearing the end of this story arc. Unlike the two previous parts, I'm pretty sure this one is going to far shorter than the both of them. Anyways, we'll just have to see about that.

Chapter 1: We're Not In Kansas Anymore

**Karth**

Nobody knew how the massive, alien city appeared in the middle of the capital. For one second, it was just a bunch of hotly contested apartment blocks. The next, a massive cityscape appeared right over it as if by magic or divine intervention.

Nevertheless, it was a huge opportunity. The city had landed right on top of an entire battalion of elite Brute stormtroops, meaning that there was now a massive hole in the Loyalists' defense of the city which provided straight line access to the Citadel of Eternal Light, the Loyalists' final stronghold. Of course, this meant that now there was a mad race between the Separatists and Loyalists to capture and consolidate the newly found city. The outcome of the entire conflict could depend on who controlled it.

Meanwhile, the Marines inhabiting what was left of New Mombasa were completely bewildered at what was happening around them. They had suddenly materialized onto a Covenant planet, scattered and confused. Wanting to err on the side of caution, Major Mackenzie, who was stationed in his mobile command post gave fallback order to every Marine unit he could reach. All the Marine units, including Paccone's squad, the _Shiela_, and Karla's mechanized company were to make a beeline for the Municipal Center of the city, which was easily the most fortified and secure area. Due to fears of terrorist and alien attack, the Municipal Center, which contained many important structures such as utility controls, the city hall, courts, etc., was specifically built and fortified to withstand a large-scale attack. Plus, from within the Center, the Marines could literally control all of New Mombasa's basic functions and utilities.

However, Karla decided to ignore the order for the moment. First, she had to examine that massive space station her "mother" showed her. She directed her platoons to secure the perimeter of the structure while she and a few squads of Marines probed the station's innards.

**Nassau Station**

"So… what are we doing in here again?" Williams asked nervously as he walked down the narrow and dark corridors.

"Looking for something." Karla turned to Tarin. "Contact our techies and engineers. Tell them they have two hours to strip this station of anything important. Weapons, ammo, parts, scrap metal, even the damn fusion reactor for all I care."

"On it."

"I've found one of the cryo bays." One of the scout Marines reported. "Looks like it's intact, but the door is sealed."

"Stay there, we're on our way." Karla waved her squad to move faster.

It took several minutes to reach the scout's position. Karla glanced at the door and simply said, "Open it."

Two Marines jumped forward and started planting explosive charges, shaping the C7 in way that would blow the door in without causing too much collateral damage. The Marines set the last charge and set the timer for thirty seconds.

"Fire in the hole!" One of them yelled as he ran for cover.

There was a sharp _bang _as the door was blown inwards like paper. Three Marines rushed in using standard breach formation.

"Clear!" One of the Marines shouted, followed by two more similar exclamations.

"Lets move in then." Karla stepped into the room, and observed that there were about fifty pods in the bay. All of them empty.

"Doesn't look like anything's here, Captain." Williams said, just as he saw something flit by his peripheral vision. "What the-"

Williams turned and shrieked as he saw a massive shadow standing in front of him. It had to be at least seven feet tall, though from William's point of view, it towered over him like a skyscraper.

Karla, Tarin, and the five other Marines with them wasted no time in drawing their weapons. However, as their flashlights lined up along with their rifles, they immediately saw what they were facing.

"Holy shit." One of the Marines gasped. "It's a Spartan!"

The crimson armored soldier nodded. "That's right, Private. Now," it turned to Karla and asked, "what year is it?"

**New Mombasa Municipal Center**

"Well, things are definitely not looking good." Paccone scratched his head and he approached his squad. "Just got out of briefing, and apparently, there's all kinds of hell headed our way."

"Isn't that how it always is?" Leo asked glumly.

"Oh, it's even worse than that." Paccone pointed out the window. "According to surveillance, we've got two entire Covenant armies converging onto our position. One from the east, the other to the west. From what the bean counters can tell, each army has about ten thousand assorted troops and a thousand armored vehicles."

"And… this has to do with us how?" Kumi asked.

"Glad you asked!" Paccone grinned. "We've been given orders to set up on the tallest building we can find on the edge of the city and observe both armies."

"Why do they always pick _us_ for the suicide missions?" Kumi sighed.

"It could've been that I said a few things during the briefing that some of the higher ups didn't quite like." Paccone shrugged. "Anyways, due to recent losses, we're being paired up with Alvarado and his crew so that they can suffer along with us."

With the mention of 'recent losses', Leo turned to check on Sam. She was still quiet, as she had been ever since Scohar, or whatever he was, died. Actually, Leo wasn't sure if the guy actually died or not, but Sam was still feeling the loss nonetheless. Unlike a lot of the veteran squadmates who were killed on Aeola, Sam was fairly close to Scohar, or at least as close you could get to a new guy. Anyways, she still hadn't gotten over the wild experience involving him.

"Private Carter!" Paccone snapped, forcing Leo to refocus his attention.

"What, sir?"

"Just checking on you. Looked you were dozing off there for a second." Paccone then pointed to a crudely drawn map of the city. "Anyways, the Mason Tower just north of here should make a good outpost. It's tall plus it has broadcasting equipment we can use to boost our radio signals."

Kumi raised her hand. "Ummm, since Sam and Leo don't appear to be doing it, I'd like to point out the obvious and ask how exactly we're supposed to get there."

"Well, on the wings of the good old reliable Pelican of course! Guaranteed to get you where you need to go or you're a paint stain on the ground! It appears that by some stroke of luck, depending on your point of view, we have a whole flight of them here and ready to use."

"Wonderful." Leo sighed.

**Nassau Station**

"Okay, I'm not even going to _ask_ how a space station, much less a Spartan, showed up here." Williams scratched his head in confusion. "Just being here is making me wonder if we're not actually dead."

"I think the Spartan's just as confused as you are." Tarin replied.

"I though Spartan armor was supposed to be green." Williams remarked.

"That's because the only Spartan you ever saw pictures of was the Master Chief." Tarin unsheathed her knife and started playing around with hit. "All he wears is green."

Meanwhile, Karla was trying to brief the Spartan, who was now packing and assembling weapons in preparation for battle.

"I am Captain Wellings, commanding officer of this Marine division." Karla said in her most authoritative tone. "What is your name, Spartan?"

"Sir!" The Spartan stood at attention. "My designation is Petty Officer Spartan-"

"No." Karla shook her head. "I don't want an number, soldier. I want a _name_. What is your _name_, soldier?"

Karla thought that if the Spartans were so dehumanized from what they went through, they should at least have the courtesy of being identified as humans, rather than a randomly assigned number. Because of their superhuman nature and concealing armor, very few people have seen the person under it and as such, rumors flew everywhere about their true nature. Karla could not count the number of stories of Spartans actually being robots, captured aliens, biologically engineered clones or the greatest soldiers in history, or even kidnapped children trained since birth. Though Karla didn't believe any of these rumors, she did find that last one quite possible since it seemed like something ONI would do.

The Spartan hesitated, as if it wasn't used to using real names. Finally, it replied, "My name is… Nicole, sir."

That certainly raised an eyebrow. Though Karla was aware that there were female Spartans, she had never actually seen or heard of any of them, possibly because they looked just like the males due to the MJOLNIR armor, which concealed and obscured body outlines quite effectively. The heavily filtered voice transmitted through their helmets didn't help much either, though when she listened carefully, Karla could now notice an air of femininity in Nicole's voice.

"Good, now what was your mission?"

"I'm afraid that classified, sir." Nicole stood just as resolutely as ever.

"Well, consider those orders to be void for the time being. We have more pressing concerns." Karla turned to Tarin. "Lieutenant, those two hours are almost up. What's our status?"

"We've taken a good deal of weapons, ammo, and equipment from the station." Tarin confirmed. "The engineers have already dismantled the important stuff and planted explosives in vital areas of the station so that anybody here that comes after us won't be able to use it."

"Good. Williams, what's the status of our prisoner?"

"Oh yeah, last I checked, he's locked up under guard with Bravo company."

"Perfect." Karla turned back to Nicole. "Those drill sergeants of yours ever teach you the fine arts of interrogation?"

"Sorry, no." Nicole shrugged. "But I was trained extensively in human and Covenant physiology and anatomy. I know plenty of weak spots, pressure points, nerve locations, and other vital areas of interest. Plus I've got plenty of experience in close-quarters combat."

"That'll do." Karla grinned. "We've got an Elite to make acquaintances with."

"This is all because he kicked your ass and stole something from you, isn't it?" Williams narrowed his eyes.

"You're damn right."

**Municipal Center**

"Barfbag!" Sam smiled as she saw the familiar face.

"Oh great, not you guys again." Barfbag grinned back. "I took the trouble of coming back to save your asses, and look where I'm stuck now, Covenant fucking central."

"Mason Tower, and make it fast." Paccone snapped mockingly.

"Hey, I'm a Pelican pilot, not your damn taxi driver."

"Not much of a difference to me." Paccone snorted. "Get back to me once you've calculated the fare. I'll be sure to tip you for the trouble."

"You go into _combat_ with this guy?" Barfbag shook his head incredulously. "And you're all still _alive_?"

"Beats getting shot." Leo grumbled.

At that moment, Alvarado and his squad arrived, their weapons and gear already prepped and loaded.

"Okay people, listen up." Barfbag said loudly so that all the Marines could hear. "For those of you that haven't hitched a ride on my Pelican yet, here are some ground rules. First, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. I don't want to get court marshaled for somebody falling out the door. Second, if you feel the need to liberate yourself of your previously eaten meal, please for the love of god try not to do it all over the damn cabin. I'm sick and tired of cleaning up your motherfucking vomit on my motherfucking Pelican. Finally, if we find ourselves plummeting to the ground to our deaths, remember that screaming loudly and panicking won't help the situation. Oh, and I'm also sick of people talking about that 'the pilot always dies first' crap. If I hear you talking about it, I'll fucking kill you."

"Well, he seems just as cranky as ever." Kumi shrugged. "Guess it shouldn't be surprising, since he crashes his Pelican almost every other mission."

"I heard that!" Barfbag snapped.

**New Mombasa**

"I don't get it." Scottie scratched his head as he examined _Shiela_. "She works perfectly fine whenever we're NOT in combat. It's like the moment the shooting starts stuff starts breaking for no reason whatsoever."

"I blame Wrall. He was the one who chose the tank." Kazi sniffed as she restocked _Shiela_'s shell locker. "And now look at where we are, stuck on planet crawling with Covvies."

"I didn't choose the tank." Wrall said defensively.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Kazi picked up another shell. "Shion, what's the count?"

"We're pretty much full on shells." Shion said as she examined the shell locker. "What I'm worried about is the lack of rounds for the machine gun. It's almost spent and I haven't been able to find any extra boxes of the stuff."

"Well shit, that's not good." Kazi grimaced. "If we run into infantry, we're going to have a hard time."

"That's why we have the Warthogs covering our backs." Wrall pointed out. "They're specialized for that kind of job."

"With that crazy Captain of theirs taking the lead? We're _doomed_." Scottie groaned.

"Hey, I'm that same crazy Captain that saved your ass from that Wraith." Karla said as she looked down through _Shiela_'s hatch.

"Whoa!" Scottie cried out in surprise. "I uh… didn't mean anything negative about that, sir."

"I'm sure you didn't." Karla turned to Wrall. "Wrall, get this hunk of junk moving. We're going to go link up with the rest of the Marines and figure out where to go from there."

"Sure thing, let me just start it up then." Wrall banged the engine housing with his fist and the engine roared to life.

"Hm, you must seriously like this machine if you're still driving it around. Most tank crews I know would have ditched it in a heartbeat." Karla smirked. "Anyways, just be ready to move out."

"Like I said, crazy." Scottie said after he was sure Karla had left.

As Karla walked back to her own Warthog, she passed the transport that was holding the Elite prisoner. He was chained up and restrained, with at least four heavily armed Marines keeping watch on him at all times. She stopped and stared at it for a few seconds. The Elite stayed silent, but stared back as well.

"Once we get to where we're going, you and me are going to have a looong talk." Karla said.

"I'm looking forward to it." The Elite growled.

Meanwhile, just outside of the newly transplanted city, the two Covenant armies slowly converged, getting closer and closer…


	2. Afternoon Chat

Chapter 2: Afternoon Chat

**Municipal Center**

Karla looked causally as Nicole administered another sound beating to the Elite in their makeshift interrogation room.

"That was nice." She remarked to the Spartan. "What move was that?"

"I made it up myself. I call it the 'Grunt Punt'." Nicole said as she administered a swift kick to the downed Elite.

"You'll have to teach me that move sometime." Karla glanced at her watch. "I think we've loosened him up enough."

Nicole roughly picked up the Elite and forcibly sat him on the chair opposite Karla. The Elite coughed and spat out a wad of purple blood onto the table.

"Is this your idea of treating prisoners humanely?"

"No, because I don't have to." Karla grinned malevolently. "The Geneva Accords are supposed to cover that end, but they only relate to prisoners that are _human beings_. Last I checked, you're anything but human, which means I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want to you."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to answer some questions of mine."

The Elite gaped incredulously. "You could've just asked."

"What's the fun in that?" Karla motioned Nicole to leave the room. "It's private time. Report to Major Mackenzie, I'm pretty sure he can find a job for you."

The Spartan quickly nodded, saluted, and left the room, leaving Karla and Mako alone. Karla took the chance to carefully examine the Elite and for some reason, couldn't shake the feeling of why it reminded her of Holy. To tell the truth, she couldn't tell the difference between individual Elites, much like the rest of the Marines and most were hidden behind that body armor of theirs. However, this one was somehow different.

Which was why she hadn't had it killed outright.

"First things first, what's your name?" She asked.

The Elite sniffed and mustered up whatever dignity it had left. "I am Junior Marshal Mako Ralamee."

Karla winced at the last name. Now she suddenly understood that strange feeling of hers, and why Mako mentioned something about a brother.

"Now assuming that your surnames work the same way as ours, you don't happen to be related to a Holy Ralamee, do you?"

"How do you know that name?!" Mako slammed the table in rage, breaking the steel piece of furniture in two like it was made of plywood.

Karla quickly drew her plasma sword and pointed it right at Mako.

"Now, I'm really not all that experienced with this thing, but I'm pretty sure it won't be so tough to carve up a big, mean Elite like you in a room like this. Not to mention having a squad of very anxious, trigger-happy Marines waiting right outside the door. So I suggest you behave yourself and not break any more of my furniture. That stuff doesn't come cheap."

Mako merely sat back down in his seat and simmered with annoyed rage. Karla merely shrugged and leaned back in her chair, feigning ignorance.

"Anyways, getting back on topic." Karla eyed Mako. "I met up with Holy quite by accident. We hit it off pretty well from that point on, and you remind me a lot about him, except for the 'trying to kill me and stealing my favorite weapon' part."

"Impossible." Mako shook his head. "He's supposed to be dead."

Karla raised an eyebrow. "Well, he is _now_, though I doubt it's from the same reasons you're thinking about."

"Regardless, he is dead to me, after his betrayal."

"What, to the Covenant?"

"Not only that, but to me and my family."

Karla narrowed her eyes in curiosity. This was getting more and more interesting.

"Go on…"

**Mason Tower**

"Have I ever mentioned that I'm a little afraid of heights?" Leo said as he looked over the edge of the tower. "I feel kinda queasy."

"No, but I'm not surprised." Sam said nonchalantly as she polished the sights on her rifle. "You're pretty much afraid of everything in some form or another."

Leo scowled as he retreated from the edge and started setting up the surveillance equipment. It seemed as if Sam's wit had made a quick recovery from her brief period of angst.

"Goddamn, what a beautiful view." Kumi breathed. "Now I see why those corny romance movies are always staged on top of tall buildings."

"What?" Leo said as he caught Kumi looking at him. Why are you staring at me like that? It's creeping me out."

"Oh, you know why." Kumi smiled wryly and nodded to Sam.

"Don't be crazy. We may be friends, but it's nothing like that."

"Aw, then a lot of Marines I know just lost a lot of money. Me included."

"Well that's too bad for- wait, _what_?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Kumi scratched her head. "Some of the more 'perceptive' Marines in the 102nd have sort of figured out your little 'relationship' with Sam, and as with all things that rely on chance, people made bets."

"Well, people have to find a way to pass the time. I watch corny romance flicks when nobody's watching, you hang out with Sam, and other people gamble."

"Son of a bitch." Leo stood up.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to the sergeant about this."

"Oh?" Kumi grinned. "I'm sure he'll be happy to know that he's been duped out of nearly a weeks pay."

"You mean to tell me that-"

Kumi nodded.

"I swear, I'm going to find a way to kill you all."

"You can try." Kumi wistfully picked up an ammo crate and turned her back to him. "But then I'd have to explain to Sam why I blew up her boyfriend with an ounce of C7 grafted to his kidneys."

"I hate you. I really do." Leo pointed at Kumi accusingly.

"Sticks and stones." Kumi whistled as she walked away. "Sticks and stones."

**Municipal Center**

"So you're telling me that Holy was a terrorist." Karla narrowed her eyes.

"Something like that." Mako sniffed. "After his secret mission, Holy seemed have lost sight of what the Covenant was trying to achieve. He believed that our race was being exploited by the Prophets and wanted nothing more than to make us independent from their rule."

"And you were against it?"

"No! By all accounts, I agreed with my brother. However, differed greatly in our methods. I believed that we should subtly and peaceably declare our independence, slowly gaining power and eventually breaking away. Holy, however, thought that our people were too short-sighted to achieve this, and sought more… extreme measures."

"Does this have anything to do with him crashing an entire ship?"

"To put a long story short, Holy's extreme measure was to hijack a brand new Covenant cruiser and defect to Humanity, using the ship as a bargaining chip. Of course, the plan failed and rather than being captured, Holy's band of rebels opted to self-destruct the ship. Holy, however, was captured alive and would have been executed on the spot, but the Prophets intervened and he was scheduled to be sent to High Charity for trial and punishment."

"And I suppose this had deep repercussions for you."

"Of course. My family was thoroughly interrogated and investigated for signs of heresy. Assets were seized and frozen, and many of my family members lot everything. Our reputation was tainted forever. I was transferred from my post to a poorly trained suicide unit and left to wallow in obscurity. Meanwhile, my brother found some way to escape, as the ship carrying him never reached High Charity."

"I can't imagine why."

"And, as you humans say, the rest is history."

"A really strange story." Karla closed her eyes. "If it were up to me, I'd think you were lying and shoot you in the head right now. Unfortunately, this little voice in my head keeps nagging me to trust you, so I will."

_Is this your doing, Holy?_ Mako thought.

"So I guess I'll keep you alive for the time being. Get used to your surroundings though, because you're not going to be seeing much else for the foreseeable future."

**Mason Tower**

"What's the count now?" Paccone asked.

"The intel was actually right for once." Sam said while looking through her scope." Roughly twenty thousand troops each with armor and vehicle support. It looks like they're trying to link up so they can push in on us."

"Wait a minute…" Leo narrowed his eyes and adjusted the settings on his sights. "I can see some movement in between. Looks like one of the groups have sent about thirty Ghosts ahead of them. It's probably some kind of patrol to make contact with the other group.

Suddenly, there was a dull _boom_ and small flash of blue in the distance.

"Holy shit!" Leo gaped. "The Ghosts are firing on the second the group!"

Paccone raised his head in alarm. "Friendly fire?"

"I don't think so." Sam said. "Looks like it's pretty intentional to me."

"What the hell is going on?" Paccone wondered.

"Look!" Alvarado pointed to the distance.

It was difficult to see at first against the blue sky, but the Marines were able to make out faint lines of blue-white arcing in the distance.

"Those are long-range Wraith plasma mortars if I'm not mistaken."

"You're right. They're definitely shooting at each other." Paccone agreed. "While I'm all glad that the Covenant are saving us the trouble of killing them, I'm wondering why."

The Marines continued to watch the distant spectacle with a combination of awe and fear. The distant alien cityscape glittered like stars as both armies fired upon one another with their energy weapons. With each bright flash, each Marine knew that several Covenant soldiers had just died.

"I don't understand." Alvarado scratched his head. "Why are they fighting?"

"Hey, as long as it's keeping their attention away from us." Paccone shrugged. "Get on the radio and tell HQ what's going on."

"Way ahead of you there." Alvarado nodded to one of his men, who quickly activated the radio.

"Now let's just hope that they don't move any closer, or things can get messy." Paccone said grimly as he watched the distant battle.


	3. Defensive Measures

AN: Sorry for the really long update. Just to make up for it, I've made this chapter is extra long.

Chapter 3: Defensive Measures

**New Mombasa Municipal Center**

"And that's the current situation." Major Mackenzie explained to the officers and men around him.

Karla noticed that the Major looked far more tired and worn that he usually did, and she couldn't blame him. Right now, being in command of elements of two Marine divisions, Mackenzie was technically performing the duties of a lieutenant general. Also, the fact that there was a shortage of officers meant that there were multiple battlefield promotions and commissions. Almost half of the officers in the room were common NCOs just thirty minutes ago, and now found themselves in command of entire platoons or even companies. Karla herself was given a small unit to command. In total, she commanded just over six hundred troops, a dozen tanks, five Pelicans and an assortment of support vehicles; a paltry fraction of what a full Marine unit should be. The majority of her division was still in orbit around Earth, either stationed on the _Freedom_ or defending the various Super MAC stations from boarders.

However, the 405th were not much better off. Only a small number of their full division landed in the city to begin with due to fears of additional invasion attempts. Factor in the casualties from the fierce urban fighting, and both the 405th and 102nd divisions were combined into a single unit that totaled just two thousand men, which was barely a full regiment itself. There weren't even enough men to organize a decent, continuous defense line. The closest thing they could achieve was a straggled line of outposts.

However, they had one weapon that was worth thousands of Marines. They had an honest-to-god live Spartan in their ranks, and Mackenzie had enough trust in Karla to put the Spartan under her command.

Already, Karla could feel the weight of the responsibility in commanding such a fearsome soldier.

"Captain."

Karla turned instinctively. Because none of the "promotions" were official, most of the newly minted officers decided just to call each other by their old ranks.

"What is it, Krensky?"

Karla knew he was just a kid, a corporal from C Company who just happened to have enough talent for command to catch Mackenzie's all seeing eye. He was now in command of a platoon of roughly thirty-five men.

"I'm not sure if I can do this." The young corporal said nervously. "There are a lot of guys depending on me, and if I screw up-"

"Don't worry about it." Karla said softly. "There's nothing to it. Just do what you feel is the right thing and stick with it, let your men know you know what you're doing and they'll back you up. Also, listen to whatever they have to say, the info they suggest can one day save your life."

The young officer gulped and nodded nervously. "I'll remember that."

"Be sure you do." Karla said as she filed out of the room.

Karla quickly met up with Tarin and Williams, who were both waiting for her in the tower's garage, along with the rest of the Warthogs and infantry.

"Orders, Captain?" Tarin asked.

"Gather up the men and tell them to move out." Karla replied. "We're going to have to set up a defense line, or the closest thing we can get to one, to try and deny any potential Covvie pushes."

Tarin nodded and motioned for the rest of the waiting Marines to prepare to move out. The garage rumbled as dozens of vehicles began to roar to life. Deafening engines and the bright flash of headlights filled the subterranean chamber with noise and light.

"I love this job." Karla grinned.

**Mason Tower**

"Situation?" Paccone asked as he glanced off into the distance.

"Still the same." Sam said as she looked through her scope. "They're still too busy blowing the crap out of each other to bother with us."

"Just the way I prefer." Alvarado mumbled.

"Yeah, and- oh shit, that's not good." Sam gasped.

"What's wrong?" Paccone narrowed his eyes, but could only make out the distant smoke and explosions.

"Parts of both forces have broken off and they're making a straight dash for us." Leo observed. "Apparently, we're sitting on top of something they want very, very badly."

"Shit." Paccone cursed under his breath. "Alvarado, do we have anything in the way of reinforcements?"

"Major Mackenzie is sending up about six hundred men to secure this sector." Alvarado replied.

"Not enough…" Paccone growled. "That's easily almost two thousand Covvies headed right toward us."

"Sarge? I think I might have an idea."

Paccone glanced curiously at Leo. "Go on…"

Leo quickly stood up and spread out a small map of the city. "Well, according to the maps, there are a limited number of wide streets leading to the center of New Mombasa, right?"

"That's correct." Alvarado nodded.

"Well, if we could block off or sever some of these arterial routes here, here, and here…" Leo pointed to several points on the map. "We can basically force both Covvie units onto this single highway, since it'll be the only route left large enough to carry such large units efficiently."

"Kid, I knew I liked you for a reason." Paccone grinned.

"So how are we going to do this?" Alvarado asked.

"Simple. We grab the Pelican and as much high explosive we can get our hands on. Then we just fly to these points and blow some stuff up to block the roads. I've seen this city, and there are plenty of bridges and overpasses we can take advantage of."

Sam raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't' tell me we're going to have to-"

"Barfbag! Get that bird warmed up! We're moving out!"

**New Mombasa Central Highway**

"Say again?" Karla pressed her earpiece to try and hear the garbled signal.

"Be advised, there is a large Covenant force inbound on your sector." The communications officer at the other end of the signal said. "Standing orders are to dig in and form defensive positions."

"I have a feeling that this is going to be ugly." Williams grumbled nervously.

"You heard the man, we're going to have to dig in. I want barricades set up and the vehicles put in proper firing positions. I need engineers to get up here and mine the damn road, and I want every single piece of heavy weaponry we've got aiming at it. If the Covvies want to get into the city with force, they're going to have to come up here!"

Karla looked on as her Marines began to disembark from their vehicles and begin preparations for a defense. She caught sight of Nicole and went after her.

"Petty Officer! I've got a job for you!"

**Richter Ave. Overpass**

Sam and Leo covered their ears as a number of C7 explosives simultaneously exploded and shattered the support columns holding up the Richter Ave overpass. Steel supports squealed and cracked as asphalt and concrete were literally pulled apart by the forces involved. In just seconds, the Richter Ave. overpass and the street beneath it were just a pile of impassable rubble.

"On to the next one." Paccone said as he waved for Barfbag to land.

**Central Highway**

Karla glanced at her defense line with a combination of concern and disgust. Her small force had set up a roadblock along the highway, with the main line of defense centered along a ramshackle barricade made out of looted furniture and derelict cars. Her infantry were scattered about in various firing positions along the barricade, the surrounding buildings, and the pedestrian bridges overhead. Unfortunately, due to the cramped nature of the city, Karla could not use the mobility of her vehicles, so her Warthogs and Scorpions were reduced to glorified heavy weapons emplacements.

However, Karla still had one ace up her sleeve. She had sent the Spartan with Tarin and Williams to scout out the approaching forces, and if necessary, disrupt their advance by any means possible. According to the rumors and stories about Spartan battle prowess, Karla shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Just to be on the safe side though, Karla had also sent a Viper Assault APC after them for some heavy support. About two-thirds the size of a Scorpion tank, Viper's were designed to fill the gap between the heavy Scorpion tank and the light Warthog LRV. It was a fairly large, six-wheeled armored vehicle with a turret mounted at the rear, similar to the Scorpion. It was armed with a 40mm rapid-fire cannon, a pintle-mounted .50 caliber machine gun, and an automatic grenade launcher. It was fairly well armored, being able to slug off most small arms fire short of rockets and fuel rods. The vehicle itself was crewed by a driver, gunner, and commander, and could hold up to six fully equipped troops comfortably but could cram six more in a combat situation. However, due to logistical problems and over-reliance on more proven vehicles, Vipers were a fairly rare sight on the battlefield.

Karla thought that was a pity. She remembered a dozen situations where such a vehicle would have come in handy.

"Is everything set up, Lieutenant Haller?" Karla asked her newly appointed inferior with Tarin's abscence.

"Yes, ma'am." Haller nodded. "All of our men are in position, and we've basically collected every piece of furniture we could find and put it in the barricade."

"Have we been able to make contact with the recon squad?"

"No ma'am. I've checked, but we haven't gotten anything from them yet." Haller said anxiously.

Karla tried now to outwardly show her concern. She knew that Sam was somewhere out there, in the path of an overwhelming and unpredictable Covenant army.

**Twin Pines Bridge**

"Is this the last target?" Paccone asked as Kumi finished planting C7 on the bridge support columns. The Twin Pines Bridge was one of the major traffic arteries that bridged the gap caused by a large flood canal.

"That's right." Leo confirmed. "Once we blow it, we can get the hell out of here."

"Shit, we've got company." Sam said as she kept an eye down the street. "Looks like some sort of advance party. A bunch of Jackals, a few bugs, and some kind of Covvie I haven't seen before…"

"Where?' Paccone said quickly as he picked up a pair of binoculars.

"Down the street, coming straight at us. Those weird, furry things." Sam pointed at the odd, hulking gorilla-like aliens leading the advance.

"Shit, they've got Brutes." Paccone growled. "This can't be good."

"What the hell are they?" Leo asked.

"I really don't know, but from what I heard, they're tough bastards."

There was a distant _bang_ as something exploded. The Marines turned again to see the advance party being torn apart by plasma fire from an unseen source. Suddenly, a small knot of to Elites and Grunts leapt out of a nearby building and began engaging the Jackals and Brutes. While caught by surprise, the Brutes quickly rallied and began firing volleys of grenades from their bizarre weapons, scattering Grunts all over the pavement. The Elites replied with a volley of heavy plasma fire that cut down the majority of the Brutes. The few that were left obviously succumbed to some kind of beserker rage and charged the Elites, using their massive, bladed grenade launchers and strength to literally tear the Elites to pieces.

"Holy shit." Leo gasped. "I think it's a good time to leave."

"Good idea." Paccone agreed. "Barfbag, set down and get us out of here."

"Sorry sir, no can do. Banshees are incoming and the airspace in your area is too hot. There's no way I can get close without getting chased by a squadron of those Covvie bastards. I'm afraid you're on your own for transport."

"Shit." Paccone cursed under his breath. "Okay, here's what we do. We'll cross this bridge first and then blow it. With the canal between us and them, it should convince the Covvies not to go through the trouble of chasing us. Then we'll just circle around and link back up with our lines."

"Best idea so far." Alvarado said. "Let's do this."

Larkins, one of Alvarado's men suddenly shouted, "Shit, incoming!"

There was a sudden blast of heat as a Covenant dropship swooped down from above, raining plasma fire down onto the exposed Marines. Two of Alvarado's men were instantly incinerated and the rest were forced to scatter. Satisfied, the dropship settled over the bridge and began to disgorge troops.

Paccone snuck a peek from his hiding spot and could see an entire squad of Brutes being beamed down from the dropships, with even more behind them.

"Kumi! Blow the bridge, NOW!"

Without hesitation, Kumi activated the detonator in her hands. There was a brief delay, but the C7 finally exploded, shattering the bridge's support columns. The Brutes that had landed were torn apart by the explosions or sent plummeting to their deaths. The rest of the Brutes that were still in the gravity beam suddenly found that there was no ground for them to stand on, and fell into the void below once they dropped out of range of the gravity beam.

"Move! MOVE!" Paccone yelled to the rest of his squad as he broke cover. "We're going to have to hot-foot it back to base before the rest of the Covvies can catch up with us!"

There was a brief but desperate scramble as the Marines packed up their gear and loaded their weapons.

"Weapons and ammo only!" Alvarado shouted. "Anything else is just going to weigh you down! Radio HQ for help!"

"Something's wrong with the radio!" Kumi responded. "That Covvie dropship must have some sort of jamming equipment!"

"Then we're on our own as always." Paccone began to sprint down the street. "Lets go!"

Already the Marines could hear the distant hum of Covenant hover engines.

**Central Highway**

"It's quiet." Williams said nervously as he drove the Warthog slowly down the highway. He didn't know what he was more scared of, the possibility of attack or the very imposing Spartan sitting next to him.

"Just keep driving, soldier." Nicole said. "We're not in danger just yet."

"How do you-"

"All Spartans live for is war." Tarin cut off Williams calmly. "Just listen to them whenever they say anything."

Even though Tarin technically outranked the Spartan, it was usually tradition for Marines on the field to defer to Spartans for combat advice and leadership, due to their experience and superhuman abilities.

"Whatever." Williams shrugged.

"Stop. Stop right now."

Williams brought the Warthog to a screeching halt. The Viper behind them shuddered to a stop as well.

"Orders?" Captain Mengsk, the commander of the Viper asked.

"Stay there and await further orders." Nicole replied. "We're going in on foot."

Nicole, Williams, and Tarin quickly dismounted the Warthog and carefully made their way down the highway, making sure to be near cover in case of an ambush.

"Do you hear that?" Nicole asked.

"Hear what?" Williams said curiously.

"That distant whine that almost sounds like the wind blowing. That's plasma fire. We're getting close."

Williams strained his ears but couldn't hear a thing. He assumed it was just the Spartan's superior hearing. Suddenly, he heard the distant and very familiar barking of a battle rifle.

"Okay, now _that_ I heard."

"Do we have any units out there?" Nicole asked.

"The Captain mentioned something about losing contact with a recon team out here."

"Okay, here's what we do." Nicole said calmly as she armed her battle rifle. "You two move forward and confirm that it's our missing recon team out there. I'll run interference for you."

Tarin and Williams nodded and ran down the street, rifles at the ready. Nicole ran down the opposite end of the street, armed a grenade, and hurled it high into the air. The grenade traveled for several dozen meters before landing behind an abandoned bus and exploding. She could see pieces of Jackals flying in all directions.

With their ambush attempt foiled, the rest of the Covenant advance force revealed themselves. A squad of Jackals and a quartet of Drones suddenly appeared from behind several derelict vehicles, firing wildly at the approaching Spartan. Nicole fired her battle rifle at the Drones, instantly killing them with surgical precision. Not bothering to reload, Nicole kept up her momentum until she reached the first batch of Jackals in cover, plasma bolts splashing ineffectually off her shields. With superhuman grace, Nicole leapt over the car the Jackals were using as cover and landed on two Jackals, crushing them flat with her weight. She then quickly elbowed a third Jackal behind her, smashing its face in and snapping its head back and nearly decapitating it. Finally, she brought the butt of her battle rifle smashing down on the last Jackal, crushing its head into its chest cavity.

Seeing their comrades being slaughtered in such a gruesome fashion convinced the remaining Jackals to leave and fight another day. They quickly broke cover and backed off, using their energy shields as protection.

Unfortunately for the Jackals, their shields were only good against negating ranged fire. In a close quarters fight, they were next to useless, and it just so happened that was Nicole's specialty.

Nicole quickly sprinted forward so fast that she seemed like a blur. The Jackals, unused to seeing a human move so fast, were caught completely by surprise. Nicole used her momentum and aimed a punch at the lead Jackal. The alien brought its shield up for protection, but the force behind the Spartan's punch was so powerful, that her fist ran straight through the shield and into its cheek, snapping its head around in a hundred eighty degree spin. The last of the Jackals panicked and fired wildly, but like those under the judgment of a vengeful god, their fates were sealed.

Meanwhile, Tarin and Wiliams had pushed ahead, trying to zero in on the sound of the anomalous gunfire. Suddenly, Tarin slid to a halt, causing the slightly slower Williams to slam into her back.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"We're not alone." Tarin whispered.

Suddenly, two massive, grotesque aliens lumbered onto the street. With their gorilla-like and powerful appearance, they looked like King Kong's little brothers.

"What the fuck are those things?" Williams gasped.

"I have no idea." Tarin said with a nervous edge in her voice. "I think we should-"

However, Williams never found out what Tarin was planning. One of the Brutes suddenly turned its head and roared at the sight of the pair of Marines. The second one quickly pivoted, firing the massive cannon-like weapon it was holding.

Tarin and Williams instinctively ducked as the projectile arced over their heads, skipped off the pavement, and slammed into a nearby truck, blowing the whole vehicle to pieces.

Both Marines responded with their own volley of fire. The exposed Brutes twitched and growled as the rifle rounds impacted ineffectually on their bodies. They brought their grenade launchers to bear and fired another volley of high explosive rounds. Tarin and Williams took cover around a street corner and ducked as grenades exploded all around them.

"Put up some fire! I have to reload!" Tarin shouted.

Williams nodded and leaned around he corner, firing wild bursts from his battle rifle. With extreme precision, or an inordinate amount of luck, one of Williams' rifle bursts slammed into one of the Brute's forehead and eye, bringing the hulking beast down as its brains were liquefied.

However, the other Brute was not at all happy to see its comrade killed. It roared in rage, tossed its weapon aside, and charged Williams like a raging bull. Williams cursed and fired the remaining rounds in his clip in vain.

"Tarin, I could use some help right here!" Williams cried.

But Tarin was nowhere to be found.

There was a sudden roar and Williams turned back to face the Brute. It looked as if the beast had tripped and fallen, but for reason, couldn't get back up. The Brute roared again and started pulling itself towards Williams with its arms.

Suddenly, Tarin materialized out of nowhere like a wraith and leapt onto the Brute's back. The Brute tried to shake Tarin off, but it was too late. The Marine had her silver knife unsheathed already and stabbed it down straight through the back of the Brute's skull. The alien finally fell silent, though it twitches several times. Tarin pulled her knife out of the Brute's head and fired several pistol rounds into it just to be safe.

"You okay there, Will?" Tarin asked casually, as if she did this sort of thing all the time.

"You freaking abandoned me!" Williams yelled angrily.

"Oh stop whining. You know I wouldn't let you die or anything."

"You could have at least supported me or something!"

"Will, if there's one thing I've learned in my entire life, it's that every living thing follows a certain set of rules." Tarin pointed her thumb to the Brute corpse behind her. "If it's got legs, then it's got hamstrings. So if I cut them, it can't move. If it's got a head and I destroy it, chances are it'll die. You really think shooting its obviously bulletproof chest with a few more rifle rounds would have made any difference?"

Williams could not think of anything to say.

"I thought so." Tarin gave a rare grin. "Lets move."


	4. Truce?

Chapter 4: Truce?

**New Mombasa Central Highway**

It took several more tense minutes for Tarin and Williams to confirm the source of the weapons fire. Fortunately, they did not run into any more of the gorilla-like aliens on the way.

"I see them." Tarin pointed to the other end of the street. "There!"

Williams narrowed his eyes and could see a squad of Marines returning fire with an opposing Covenant squad consisting of Jackals and, unfortunately, more of the gorilla aliens.

"It looks like we're gonna have to save the Captain's little sis again." Tarin sighed.

"Wonderful."

"Nicole, we found them. Captain Mengsk, home in on our position for pickup." Tarin said.

"Roger that." Mengsk said.

There was no reply from Nicole.

"Petty officer, do you read?" Tarin asked.

There was tense silence for several seconds until the radio suddenly squacked and buzzed.

"Copy that." Nicole's voice was distorted and muted by gunfire and alien screams. "I am inbound to your position."

"Okay, let's move." Tarin said as she shut off her radio.

"Why don't we just wait till the cavalry get here?" Williams said meekly.

"Not fast enough. They'll just get swarmed by those Covvies."

Williams sighed and said, "Of course. What's the plan?"

Tarin quickly scanned the area. Paccone and his squad were currently pinned down behind a fountain in a wide open plaza. The majority of the Covenant were firing down on them from a balcony on an apartment building adjacent to the plaza. The plaza itself was sparsely populated with benches, planters, and trees. It was hardly adequate cover and any attempt to enter or exit the plaza would be suicide. However, Tarin noticed that the east side of the apartment building was devoid of life. To make things better, there were a multitude of aesthetic columns and vehicles to provide cover and concealment. She and Williams could easily enter the building from that side and hit the Covenant from the rear.

"Okay, I think-"

Again, Williams would never know what Tarin was originally planning, because at that moment, a Warthog burst onto the plaza, knocking over benches and small trees before screeching to a halt between the Covenant and Paccone's Marines. A blood spattered Nicole leapt out of the driver's seat, armed with a Covenant fuel rod cannon, and began to sweep the balcony with superheated energy. Most of the Jackals and Brutes ducked, but the slower ones were instantly incinerated. As Nicole was firing, Tarin and Williams noticed that the fuel rod was beginning to overheat. Nicole also realized this and hurled the entire weapon over the balcony like a giant grenade. The compromised weapon detonated, sending Covenant flying over the balcony and to their deaths. Nicole didn't even stop there. She quickly leapt into the back of the Warthog and started spraying what was left of the balcony with heavy cannon rounds.

Amid all this, Tarin sighed dejectedly. She really wanted to see how her plan would have worked out.

"Come on, we should go and help out."

Tarin and Williams sprinted across the street and joined Paccone, who was taking cover behind an overturned trashcan. The rest of his squad members were huddled behind the fountain, taking shots at the Covenant.

"Well, I can't say I'm not glad to see you." Paccone grinned. "But as you can see, we've got the situation perfectly under control."

Tarin rolled her eyes and Williams sighed.

"I see we've also got our own little superweapon here." Paccone motioned to Nicole. "Where'd it come from? Did some giant hand drop it from the sky?"

"Frankly, I don't know how _she_ got here." Tarin responded. "But I don't really care as long as she gets the job done. What's your squad's status?"

"Well, it's just down to me, the lovebirds, Kumi, Sergeant Alvarado, and a couple of his men. No serious injuries though."

"Well, don't worry. We've got a ride out of here."

As if to back up Tarin's statement, Mengsk's Viper whipped around the corner, guns blazing. Heavy cannon shells blew the entire balcony apart, showering the plaza below to debris, blood, and body parts. The armored vehicle screeched to a stop next to fountain, still firing at the building in case there were any Covenant survivors.

"All aboard!" Mengsk yelled over the gunfire. "Next stop, anywhere but here!"

"There's your ride, Sergeant." Tarin patted Paccone on the shoulder. "Please try to get it back in one piece, or the Captain is going to be pissed."

"Girl, that's all I live for." Paccone got up and waved to his squad. "Come on boys and girls, time to ditch this dump!"

Alvarado and his last two men quickly piled into the Viper. Kumi followed them in. Paccone was about to get in when he saw Sam still firing at the Covenant.

"Leo! Sam! Get your asses in here pronto! We don't have time for pottybreaks!"

"Just one more shot, Sarge!" Sam said as she aimed her rifle. She had one round left in her magazine and didn't fell like putting it to waste.

Fortunately, that wouldn't be the case. Sam caught sight of a small convoy of Covenant vehicles coming up the street. Leading the convoy was a Wraith, with a very well-dressed Brute standing out of the hatch. Now, Sam didn't exactly understand what all the decorative armor was for, but she knew she just _had_ to shoot the Brute. Sam inched her rifle over the Brute's head and pulled the trigger. Her heavy rifle roared as the bullet splattered the Brutes brains over the Wraith's armor plating. The entire convoy, suddenly leaderless, abruptly stopped and reversed direction.

"Come on." Leo grabbed Sam's hand. "It's time to go."

Meanwhile, Tarin and Williams reached the Warthog and leapt into the driver and passenger seats respectively. Nicole was still pounding away at the Covenant with the 30mm autocannon.

"Brace yourself, we're outta here!" Tarin yelled as she pounded her foot onto the accelerator.

Inside the Viper, Paccone grumbled, "What I hate about transports is the fact that they're basically bullet magnets. Pretty much everybody wants to shoot them."

As if to reinforce the point, there were several dull thuds and sizzles as plasma fire bounced off the vehicle's armor.

"Well," Leo replied, "At least it's not like it's going to penetrate-"

Suddenly, there was a loud BANG and the Viper tipped to the left a little, as if a sledgehammer had hit in the side. Leo saw a large dent several inches deep in the hull. It was obvious the vehicle had taken a direct hit from one of the Brute shots.

"I see your point." Leo said meekly.

"I wonder if this rifle could pierce it…" Sam thought.

"Don't even fucking think about it." Mengsk said. "I've kept this baby in one piece in for over nine battles and I intend to keep it that way for a lot more."

However, in the Warthog, things were a lot more hectic. Without the safety of full armor plating, the Warthog crew was all too aware of the amounts of enemy fire they were drawing and how close it was. Nicole and Williams blasted any infantry that tried to block their way, while the Viper easily dispatched any Covenant vehicles that happened to show themselves. It would be a long and eventful trip back to friendly lines.

**New Mombasa Central Highway Defense Line**

Karla looked down at the other end of the highway with her binoculars. The Covenant force on the other side had suddenly stopped right outside the range of most of her force's weapons. The Covenant force looked battle ready, but it didn't look as if they were going to be charging down the road anytime soon.

"What do you think they're waiting for?" One of the Marines asked.

"Who knows. Covenant thinking has been shown to be extremely inconsistent." Karla replied.

That fact was true. Karla had run into Covenant forces that were so poorly led, she wondered how they were even able to point their weapon in the right direction while other times she ran into organized and smart units that gave Karla a run for her money in terms of tactical and strategic planning.

"Ma'am, we've got movement." One Marine pointed down the highway.

"Numbers?"

"Uhhhh, just a single Ghost. Doesn't look like the driver's armed, either."

Now this was a surprise. Karla looked through her binoculars again and indeed saw a lone Ghost approaching their lines.

"Orders?"

"Let him get a bit closer." Karla said. "I've never seen Covenant willing to negotiate, but I've also never seen them act like this before. Once he gets close enough, nab him and see what he wants."

It took several minutes, but the Ghost finally approached the Marine defense line. Karla wasn't sure what was going through the Elite's mind when he approached the line of guns pointed at him, but she was sure it was nothing good.

"I am Captain Wellings, the officer in charge of this area. What's your name and purpose?" Karla asked the Elite.

The Elite replied in a series of garbled and unfamiliar words.

"Shit." Karla said when she realized that there might be a problem.

"Do you speak any English at all?" She asked.

The Elite replied again in a different, but equally confusing jumble of alien words.

"Wonderful," Karla said to herself. "Our enemy finally decides to negotiate with us for the first time in human history, and their representative can't even speak the same goddamn language as us."

Suddenly, she had an idea. Karla picked up the radio and called the prison guards watching Mako back at the Municipal Center.

"Yes, Lieutenant, you heard me correctly. I want the prisoner taken out of his cell and taken directly to Outpost Gamma."

At that moment, two vehicles burst onto the highway at high speed. The Marines quickly turned their attention to the new threat. Karla looked and realized that it was Tarin and the others.

"Hold your fire! I repeat, hold your fire! Those are friendlies down there!"

A few seconds later, a somewhat harried looking Tarin and Williams pulled into the outpost in an incredibly battered Warthog. Mengsk's Viper followed close behind, in equally battered condition.

"I assume your mission went smoothly?" Karla asked.

"You could say that." Tarin sighed. "We managed to save Paccone's ass… again, but we weren't able to get a good read on the Covenant forces. Nicole says she saw their main force, but-"

Tarin caught sight of the Elite standing behind Karla and quickly raised her battle rifle.

"Whoa, hold it there!" Karla said as she grabbed Tarin's rifle and forced the barrel down. "We're not killing this one. Not yet, anyway."

"Can you explain this, Captain?" Tarin asked suspiciously.

"Not really, since I have no idea what's going on, either." Karla sighed. "How about you get Williams and the others to the mess tent and get something hot to eat. This is going to be a long day."

Tarin nodded, and took one last suspicious glare at the Elite before walking off the check on the Viper's occupants.

"Keep him somewhere safe, and away from the rest of the units. We don't want any disgruntled Marines breaking orders and play 'shoot the Elite'." Karla said.

"On it, ma'am!"

Karla then glanced over at the Viper. She saw Mengsk fretting over the condition of his Viper, as Wrall stood by trying to comfort Mengsk in the fact that at least Vipers weren't piles of junk like his own tank. Somehow, that didn't seem to console Mengsk that much. She then saw Paccone's squad making their way to the rear. However, something bothered her…

"Whoa, hold it there you little brat." Karla grabbed Sam's shoulder. "I don't quite remember seeing you lugging around that monster of a rifle before we ended up here."

"Uhhh yeah, my old one got kinda broken." Sam replied innocently. "Plasma swords tend to do that to stuff."

Karla sighed, it was going to happen one day eventually.

"Well, just make sure you log that thing with the quartermasters. It would really suck if you ran out of ammo for that thing and the clerks send you the wrong bullets."

"I'll work on that."

"Well… you can go play with your friends now. I have go talk to yet _another_ Elite about things that will complicate this war much more than it should be."

"Um, good luck with that, I guess." Sam shouldered her rifle and ran to catch up with her squad.

"You know, most commanders would make sure that their loved ones were in a position to be as far away from the front lines as possible." Wrall pointed to Sam, "You know, family ties and all that."

"Yeah, well I'm not like most commanders, and if there's one thing I hate more than the Covenant, it's nepotism. Special treatment sucks, especially when you're not the one receiving it." Karla replied coldly.

"Oh boy, I'm sure everybody just _loves_ you."

"At least one of them does." Karla replied.

Karla's radio buzzed so she flicked it on.

"Captain, the prisoner has arrived."

"I'm on the way. Put him in with the envoy." Karla said.

"Roger that."

Mako and the Elite envoy were taken to one of the conference rooms in a nearby Marriott hotel. A heavy Marine guard was posted outside to keep an eye on things. When they saw Karla approaching, they lowered their weapons and saluted before letting her in.

"You go through the trouble of imprisoning me in one of your boring structures, only to have me moved to yet another one?" Mako growled as he was brought forth in chains.

"Yeah, pretty much. I love annoying prisoners in my free time." Karla said sarcastically, "Now the only reason why we're here is because besides you, there's nobody I know that's fluent in both English and whatever language you speak."

"Another prisoner?"

"Something like that."

Mako cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "What if I refuse? Or lie to you?"

"Then I'd shoot you."

"A compelling motivation." Mako agreed. "Let's get this over with."

The moment Mako walked into the room, he was fairly surprised at what he saw. Sitting at the table was a Unit Commander. Such individuals were not easy prisoners to take, which meant that he had given himself up willingly. But why?

"Ah, finally, somebody who can understand me." The Unit Commander remarked. "It's rather embarrassing trying to open up a dialogue without knowing how to speak the other side's language."

Mako looked to Karla, who replied, "You just have to translate the important parts. I don't need to be distracted by the small talk."

Mako nodded and turned back to the Unit Commander. "They want to know who you are and what you want."

"Of course." The Unit Commander grunted, "I am Unit Commander Slardar Pelamee, envoy from Warmaster Yemmamee. My mission here is to discuss the possibility and terms of a cease-fire or even an alliance with the humans."

Mako's heartbeat stopped for a moment. He wasn't sure if he had heard that last sentence correctly.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" He asked disbelievingly.

"The times have changed." Pelamee replied sadly. "The Prophets have betrayed us. After millennia of loyal service to them, the Prophets cast us aside and denied us a place on their Great Journey."

Mako took careful note of how Pelamee said "_their_ Great Journey" in reference to the Prophets. Whatever had happened while he was away, it was monumental enough to drive a wedge between the Sangheli and the Prophets.

"The rulers of Karth and many like-minded individuals within the Covenant have decided that it is time to split from the Covenant and forge our own destiny." Pelamee continued. "We will find our own Great Journey, without being dictated or manipulated by the treacherous Prophets."

The whole notion was preposterous. A lone planet, splitting itself from a massive entity such as the Covenant? Then again, it sounded as if they had no other choice.

"Even now, we battle with the forces still loyal to the Prophets. If we can drive them from this planet, we may be able to go forth and unit similar planets to our cause." Pelamee grinned, "However, this means that we must learn to cooperate, especially with our former enemies."

Mako glanced at Karla and said to Pelamee, "Are you serious? Siding with them?"

"I have seen the humans fight, and no doubt you have too." Pelamee shrugged. "I've always wondered why they were never given the chance to join the Covenant. Even with their backwards technology and losses, they still fight with the determination and vigor of the greatest Sangheli. I have no qualms with fighting alongside them."

"But I still don't understand-"

Pelamee leaned forward. "The Jiralhanae are involved with this. Actually, I believe they are part of the cause."

Mako stopped. The Sangheli and the Jiralhanae were rivals ever since the foundation of the Covenant. The Jiralhanae were always trying to gain favor with the Prophets and gain the dominant position in the Covenant hierarchy. However, clever political maneuvering and masterful leadership kept the Sangheli at the top, at least until now.

"We need the humans on our side. We believe that their… _unorthodox_ strategies may help us gain and upper hand over the Jiralhanae here. Also, they control a strategically important area. This area is crucial enough to quite possibly drive the Loyalist forces off this planet."

To Karla, the entire conversation between Mako and the other Elite were completely, well, alien to her. It was difficult to get any grasp of the weird, garbled language they were speaking, but it did sound as if they were talking about something very important.

When Mako finally told Karla everything he had heard, she nearly shot the Elite for fear he was lying. Then again, a Covenant civil war would explain a lot of the weird things going on here such as the apparent infighting and one side's offer for a truce.

"Get Major Mackenzie on the line." Karla told a nearby Marine. "I believe I have something he would want to see very much."


	5. The Art of Defense

Chapter 5: The Art of Defense

**New Mombasa Central Highway**

"You do realize the amount of disbelief I felt when you told me that the Covenant were willing to negotiate a truce." Major Mackenzie said as he jumped off his Warthog.

"Well, they're not exactly the Covenant per se, just a sort of splinter group." Karla shrugged, "Then again, I've never expected something like this to happen either."

"Does anybody else know about this?" Major Mackenzie asked.

"No sir, only me and the Elites. It's a good thing that nobody here understands Covenant."

"Good. The implications of such a thing can destroy what little morale and organization we have left. Are you absolutely sure that this is a legitimate claim?"

"Well," Karla shrugged, "they're not shooting at us, so I guess that counts for something, sir."

Mackenzie nodded and strode toward the makeshift debriefing room. The Marine guards posted outside saluted and opened the doors for the officers. Inside, Slardar and Maka sat at a table under heavy Marine guard.

"I am Major Mackenzie, ranking officer of the UNSC forces on this planet." Mackenzie announced. "I believe you had offers a truce."

Slardar nodded and spoke in his garbled language as Mako translated.

"He does. He says that you should be interested because you both have mutual interests."

Mackenzie nodded. "What are his conditions?"

Mako paused for moment as he listend to Slardar.

"He says that in return for the non-aggression pact, you must provide military aid to the Separatist Covenant forces. Namely full access to this position as well as assistance in driving the Loyalist Covenant off the planet."

"And what makes him think I'd want to help him?"

"Because if you don't, you will quickly find yourself very alone on this planet." Mako replied, "Because unlike him and his superiors, the Loyalists will show no quarter to anybody not on their side."

"Point." Mackenzie nodded and leaned forward. "So what is it that you're planning to do?"

**Marine Defense Line**

"Do you believe this shit?" A Marine yelled angrily. "We're actually siding with the goddamn Covvies!"

There were a lot of nods and murmurs of agreement from the Marines around him. Of course, after being at war for nearly half a century, this sudden about face and the offer of a truce from the enemy was very hard to accept. It was difficult to forget the countless people killed at the hands of the Covenant.

"Don't trust the bastards anywhere on the same planet, much less on our flanks." Another Marine grumbled.

As part of the overall plan, Mackenzie and the Separatist leadership collaborated to set up a strategy to force the remaining Loyalists off the planet. However, it required quite a lot of cooperation between the Covenant and the Marines, which would be rather difficult to achieve.

Since New Mombasa was effectively a huge bulge in the Loyalist lines, it provided a direct route to Loyalists' main base of operations. Obviously, the Loyalists were determined to push the Separatists back at any cost, and had organized a massive offensive force to counterattack. Meanwhile, only lead elements of the Separatists had managed to reach Mombasa, and even with the combined might of the Covenant and Marines, it still was barely enough to hold off the massive onslaught coming in their direction. Their only hope was to hold out until additional Separatist units could arrive to reinforce them.

This meant that the Covenant and the Marines had to work closely together. The Marines still held onto the center of the city, with two Covenant forces supporting them on the flanks. If either force backed out or broke, it would mean that the others would effectively be encircled an annihilated, which made teamwork crucial. Unfortunately, the tensions between both the Marines and the Covenant posed to be a bigger threat than the Loyalists.

"What do you mean 2nd platoon still hasn't made contact with the Covenant 4th?" Karla yelled as she stormed through the makeshift command post, "I was just fucking there! If I find out that Sergeant Perkins is just bullshitting me, tell him that I will go over there again and shove a plasma sword up his goddamn ass!"

The command staff was busy trying to coordinate the efforts to form a cohesive defensive line. Unfortunately, problems arose due to the inability for officers on both sides to communicate with each other, either through complications or on purpose.

"Damnit, we'll be lucky if we last the night." Karla muttered. "Any word on where those Brutes are coming in?"

"Uhhhh, looks like they're going straight through the middle." One of the staff replied.

"Typical." Karla sighed, "Let's get everything hunkered down and-"

"Captain! We're getting reports that the hotel CP is under attack!"

Karla whipped around. That was where Mako was being kept, as well as the Covenant ambassador and Major Mackenzie.

"Is it confirmed?"

"Yes, ma'am! Two dropships just touched down in the area. The guards there are engaging, but-"

The man didn't even get to finish his sentence before Karla was out the door.

**Checkpoint Alpha**

"Typical. Instead of a fairly cushy position in the middle of the line, the brass decided to put us on the flank, as always. Not only that, we've got to hunker down with the Covvies as well." Alvarado groaned.

"Ah, quit your whining." Paccone laughed, "At least they're not shooting at us. We can give them that much."

Both Paccone and Alvarado's squads, as well as twenty more Marines, were tasked with guarding a vital road leading into New Mombasa. Since the road was far into the flank, it was being jointly defended by a combined Marine/Covenant force.

"I, for one, am glad that they're with us, since it gives the 'bad' Covvies something else to shoot at." Kumi said as she polished her shotgun. "Plus we could always use the heavy firepower they've got."

What she was referring to were the various Shade anti-vehicle turrets that the Covenant had planted along the road as well as an entire squadron of Wraiths, compared to the Marines' paltry pair of Scorpions and quartet of Warthogs.

"Hey, I take offense to that." Wrall grunted, apparently annoyed, "me and my crew can take on anything the Covvies can throw at us."

"Well yeah, if your tank actually worked right." Paccone wisecracked.

Wrall responded with a wisecrack of his own, but it was drowned out by the sound of a Wraith plasma bolt landing just several meters down the road. Soldiers both human and Covenant alike dove for cover.

"Scottie!" Wrall yelled into his radio as he sprinted towards _Shiela_, "Fire up the engines and get _Sheila_ ready to go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice, Captain!" Scottie's rich accent cursed.

_Shiela_'s engines began to cough and sputter to life. The tank began to slowly pull forward in an attempt to avoid the incoming plasma fire. Wrall, without missing a beat, grabbed onto the side of the tank and clambered into the hatch.

"Nice of you to drop in, Captain." Kazi said, "We were thinking of leaving you behind."

"No we weren't!" Shion pouted.

"Nice to know somebody still cares about my well being." Wrall sighed. "Scottie, get us moving and find a decent firing position. Kazi, shoot any damn Wraith that even thinks about going the opposite direction as us."

"Roger that, Captain. Shion! Give me a standard!"

Paccone covered his ears as _Shiela_'s cannon roared. The high speed shell shot down the hazy road and struck an oncoming enemy Wraith. The shell hit the Wraith's front armor and ricocheted, but the hit stunned the Wraith enough for friendly Wraiths to draw a bead on it and melt it to slag.

"Goddamnit, we can't let them have all the fun!" Paccone cried, "Kumi! Grab that M19! We're going tank hunting!"

"Yes sir!"

"And where the hell did Sam and Leo go?"

"Well you know Sam, she always wants an excuse to fire that giant gun of hers." Kumi shrugged.

"Typical." Paccone sighed, "Alright, lets go and kick some Covvie ass!"

**Hotel Outpost**

Karla growled when her Warthog pulled up to the hotel outpost. There were already signs of heavy fighting, and the Marine guard detail that was supposed to be posted outside was nowhere to be seen.

There were, however, a bunch of Jackals and a Brute trying to gain entry into the building. They were quickly cut down by a sustained burst from the Warthog's LAAG.

"This is Captain Karla Wellings to anybody in Outpost Tango. What is your condition? Please respond." Karla said through her radio.

There was no reply, only static.

"Damnit." Karla cursed, "We're going in."

Karla, Tarin, and Williams rushed into the hotel, but found nothing in the lobby except for signs of a fierce battle and dead bodies. Without any hesitation, Karla rushed down to the room that Mako and Slardar were being kept, and was dismayed to see a large group of Loyalist Covenant trying to enter.

"Grenades!" Karla yelled.

Tarin and Williams nodded and pulled out their frag grenades. The explosions scattered the Covenant attack force, who were clearly not expecting an attack from behind. The Jackals were cut down mercilessly, and the Brutes roared in rage and charged down the hall. Karla managed to sidestep one, and as it turned to try and attack again, Karla drew her plasma sword and drove it straight into the Brute's back.

Meanwhile, Williams managed to dispatch another two Brutes by sticking them with plasma grenades. Tarin managed to score headshots on two more Brutes and killed a third by shoving her knife in its throat.

"Hey! Is it all clear out there?" A voice inside the room yelled.

"It's safe to come out!" Karla yelled back.

The doors opened, and a battered Mackenzie and a squad of Marines stumbled out, followed closely by Mako and Slardar.

"The bastards came out of nowhere." One of the Marines breathed.

"Wait, quiet." Tarin said, eyes darting towards the window. "I think-"

Suddenly, the windows burst in and Drones piled into the hallway. The Marines immediately opened fire, cutting down the first few Drones. However, more began to pile through the windows, cutting down four Marines as they came.

"We have to get out of here!" Mackenzie yelled, "This sector is compromised!"

"You don't have to tell me twice, sir!" Karla breathed.

"Captain!" Williams yelled, point towards the lobby.

Karla turned to see three Brutes charging in from the lobby. She cursed and opened fire on them, but her battle rifle proved to be too weak to inflict any serious harm. She tossed the useless weapon aside and drew her sword. The Brutes, high on bloodlust, likewise charged with their huge, bladed weapons. She lunged and stabbed the first Brute in the gut and then swung it out straight into the second Brute.

Unfortunately, she lost track of the third Brute. Before she could do anything, Karla felt a sharp, hot pain in her back. The Brute had managed to get behind her and slashed her back with its giant blade. The weapon cut straight through her armor and created a huge gash across her back. Karla stumbled and fell, unable to move. She could hear the Brute snort in amusement as it placed its foot over her head, ready to crush it.

However, it never came. Karla turned her head to see Mako slam his body into the Brute, knocking it off her and into the ground. Though the Elite was still chained, he could still fight, beating his bound fists into the Brute's face until it was turned into a mashed, bloody pulp. Slardar then arrived to finish off the Brute with a quick plasma burst from his pistol.

"Come on, help me get her up!" Mackenzie yelled to the other Marines as he picked up Karla by the shoulder.

"You saved me." Karla coughed as she was helped up.

"You fight with the ferocity and vigor of any Sangheli." Mako sniffed, "It would have been a shame to see you fall in battle so easily."

"Thanks, I guess."

**Checkpoint Alpha**

Another advancing Wraith exploded as Paccone nailed it in the rear with a well aimed rocket.

"That's two for two!" He yelled happily.

Meanwhile, the entire line was awash in fire as the Loyalist Covenant made their offensive. Plasma, bullets, rockets, and lasers shot every which way as both sides attempted to advance.

"Where the hell is that goddamn sniper support!" Alvarado yelled as a wave of plasma fire forced him and his men down.

There was a sudden _crack_ and the plasma fire stopped.

"You gotta learn to be patient." Paccone grinned. "She's always watching, no matter what."

Alvarado grunted and continued to fire down the street. He suddenly caught a blur of red when another Wraith suddenly exploded.

It was Nicole. She had made her way to the section of the line under the heaviest fire and decided to lend her assistance. She leapt onto the side of another Wraith, her weight making the large vehicle tip over slightly. With superhuman strength, she grabbed the tank's top hatch and ripped it off with a single arm. She tossed the now useless hatch aside and dropped a handful of grenades into the vehicle before leaping off. The Wraith continued on for several more meters before there were several dull _thuds_. The Wraith then stopped and began leaking smoke.

"Glad she's on our side." Kumi remarked.

"Holy shit, did you see that?" Leo exclaimed as he saw Nicole single handedly destroy a Wraith.

"Meh, I've seen better." Sam said coolly as she cut down a Brute officer.

Sam and Leo had taken a vantage point atop a transmission tower. The exposed steel beams and electrical equipment served as perfect camouflage to hide a sniper.

"We got more armor coming up the street." Leo observed another column of Wraiths trying to push up the street. "I think we have to upgrade to the _real_ bullets."

Sam cracked a smile. "I was waiting for you to say that."

She then reached into her pack and pulled out a magazine with a red stripe painted across it. Unlike the standard bullets her rifle normally fired, the bullets in this particular magazine were armor piercing incendiary rounds. They were absolutely perfect in dealing with armored vehicles.

"You got ten shots, make them count." Leo said.

"I'm on it, don't worry." Sam squeezed the trigger.

The specialized round struck a Wraith in its side, punching through one side and out the other without any signs of slowing down. The Wraith began to list the side and smashed into another Wraith, bringing both craft down. When striking a target, the bullets were designed to release a burst of superheated gas and shrapnel, killing or incapacitating any targets inside the armored vehicle, and they obviously did their job well.

"Give me another target, Leo."

"I've got another Wraith two blocks east."

Meanwhile, _Shiela_ was doing its best trying to hold back the oncoming tide of armored vehicles. Another burst from her cannon blasted a pair of incoming Ghosts as Separatist Shades fired in support.

"Running low on shells!" Shion yelled. "We've only got five shots left!"

"Damnit!" Wrall cursed. "Kazi, make them count!"

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Suddenly, plasma fire swept across the street, annihilating the Shades supporting _Shiela_. In the space of seconds, _Shiela_ and her crew found their flanks dangerously vulnerable.

"We'd appreciate a little help here!"

"On it!" Paccone shifted his M19 and shot his last rocket down an alley, blowing two Brutes to bits. "Kumi! Get on that Shade and keep up the fire!"

Kumi nodded and ran to a nearby Shade. She pulled the dead Grunt gunner out of the seat and sat down. It was a little uncomfortable and cramped since it was adjusted for the much smaller Grunt. Kumi adjusted the seat settings and firing bursts of high yield plasma down the alleys.

Meanwhile, Nicole got the same idea. She heaved a tipped over Shade upright, hopped in, and began providing support fire of her own. Emboldened, the Elites and Grunts began to push the Brute onslaught back until there were only sporadic firefights.

"Well, that was over quick." Kumi breathed, hopping out of her Shade.

"Don't relax just yet. That was only the first wave." Paccone said grimly. "They'll be back, and in greater numbers."

"Well, lets just hope the Covvies here can get the help they promised in time." Alvarado said.

Nicole stayed silent. There was nothing for her to say.

"Hey, Leo, Sam, you'd better switch positions. It'll only be a matter of time before a Wraith draws a bead on you and turns you into ash." Paccone said as he looked up at the transmission tower they were hiding in.

"Will do, Sarge. Have anything in mind?"

"Any window with a good view of the street will do. Just make sure you aren't seen."

"Roger that."

"Right, lets get this line reformed! I want all of the heavy weapons rearmed, and grab anything that looks like it can put down a tank!"

**Outpost Delta forward infirmary**

Karla winced as the medic applied disinfectant and a fibrin bandage on the huge gash in her back.

"You're pretty lucky, Captain. If that blade went any deeper, it could have cut straight through your spine and paralyzed you, and with the equipment I have on hand right now, I wouldn't have been able to flash you a new one." The medic said.

"And the good news just keeps rolling in." Karla sighed.

"Hey Captain, what do we do about the Elites?" Williams pointed to Slardar and Mako.

"That should be up the Major Mackenzie."

Mackenzie said, "Slardar can return to his own forces. He's done his duty. However, this Mako is not so easy to deal with. He has no unit to return to, and his status with us is questionable at best."

"Well sir, then I'd be glad to take him off your hands." Karla said.

"Really?" Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it seems that Mako Ralamee is just as loyal to his race as we are to ours, which means he'll be an ally." Karla shrugged. "At least for the time being."

"Granted. Though if he tries anything funny, you have full permission to use lethal force."

"Major," Karla laughed, despite the sharp pain in her back, "we're in the middle of a war here. When did I ever have to get permission for that?"


	6. On The Offensive

Chapter 6: On the Offensive

**Marine Defense Line**

"You're not serious." Karla gaped as Mackenzie explained his plan to her. "Counterattacking the Covenant while we're in the middle of a holding action?"

"I know, it's not pretty." Mackenzie replied, "But it's the quickest way to end this conflict. I don't want you or any of my other Marines getting torn apart in this civil war."

"What if the Covenant that so politely allied with us decide that we're not worth keeping around?"

"Then we'll blow their asses to hell along with the rest of them." Mackenzie said humorlessly.

Karla sighed and looked around the command tent. It was filled with both human and Covenant staff, all trying to coordinate their movements with each other. It didn't really help that neither side spoke the same language or thought the same way, but as long as they could form some semblance of a line and shoot in the right direction, things just might work out.

Meanwhile, there was still fierce fighting in multiple points on the line, especially at the human/Covenant flank. The Loyalist Covenant were still determined to try and break that section, thereby severing the Separatists from their human allies and allowing them to annihilate both forces at their leisure.

As if the Marines would ever let that happen.

"Damnit." Paccone cursed as he saw yet another Loyalist convoy approaching the line. "How many rockets do we have left?"

"Uh, just the ones you're carrying with you, sir." Kumi said sheepishly.

That meant two M12 rockets to hold off a convoy with over a dozen armored vehicles.

"Where the hell are those Shades? I thought they got them up and running again!"

"We've got three, and that's about it."

"Son of a bitch. At this rate, we'll have to hold off these tanks with our bare hands."

There were a couple of thunderous cracks, and two of the leading Loyalist vehicles suddenly veered of the road and crashed.

"At least it looks like Sam's still having fun." Kumi grinned.

**Miller Memorial Hospital**

Sam sighed as she shot through yet another Wraith tank. Sniping tank crews had its kick at first, but soon Sam realized that it wasn't really that much of a challenge shooting a big slow tank and quickly grew bored.

"I hope you've found something more interesting to shoot, Leo."

"Oh yeah, as if my priorities were pleasing you over living to see the next day." Leo grumbled, "Besides, after the last ten tries, I don't think the Covvies have any officers left to lead an infantry charge, or at least any with enough guts to come out in anything other than an armored vehicle."

Suddenly, an energy beam pierced the window of a nearby room. Sam and Leo had purposely set up a fake firing position in that room to draw potential enemy fire, and it appeared to have worked.

"Yes!" Sam smiled, "we've got competition. You see where that beam came from?"

"Yeah." Leo had managed to trace the beam back to an office building several blocks away. If Covenant snipers had one severe flaw, it was the fact that their weapons left a very obvious way to reveal their positions.

"Got him." Sam grinned as she saw the Jackal's head evaporate. "What an amateur."

Suddenly, a fusillade of beam rifle shots peppered the hospital walls and windows, sending glass and concrete debris flying everywhere. Obviously, the first Jackal had been bait to try and lure out the sniper that had been causing them so much trouble.

"Numbers over skill, typical Covvie thinking." Sam sighed as she pulled away from the window. "To the next hiding spot I suppose."

**Marine Defense Line**

"Bad news." Kumi ducked as Paccone fired his final rocket. "We've got no sniper support. Sam and Leo are pinned by Covvie snipers and they're still trying to get to a new firing position."

"Lovely. Looks like we've got do things the old fashioned way then." Paccone got up and ran over to where Alvarado and the remains of his squad were positioned.

"Well, good to see that you're still alive." Alvarado said as he fired several rifle bursts down the street. "As you can see, we've picked up a few extra teammates."

Paccone glanced over to see an Elite and a knot of Grunts taking positions alongside Alvarado's men. No matter how he looked at it, Paccone could not shake the surreal feeling of the situation.

"So what can we do for you?" Alvarado asked.

"Do you remember that instructional seminar that taught us the basics of commandeering Covenant vehicles?"

"Yeah..." Alvarado said somewhat cautiously.

"Well, I think it's time for us to procure our own ride. What do you say?"

"I'd say you're fucking insane. But then again, I'm covering an Elite's ass right here, so I don't really know what classifies as sane anymore."

"Good." Paccone patted Alvarado on the back. "Now we just need something to draw the Wraiths' fire."

The Elite raised his head and apparently understood what Paccone wanted to do. He turned to the Grunts and yelled something at them in his garbled alien language. The Grunts hesitated, looked at each other, and began doing what looked like a Covenant version of rock paper scissors.

"Looks like they're trying to see who's turn it is." Alvardo pointed out.

Finally, one Grunt stepped away from the group, took a deep breath, and ran screaming across the street. Plasma fire began to trace the running Grunt, stitching the ground with blackened pockmarks until the Grunt miraculously reached the safety of the other side of the street. Determined to finish the job, a pair of Wraiths slowly lumbered down the street.

"Now!' Paccone yelled as he scrambled from cover.

The first Wraith was relatively easy to take, as its commander had left the hatch open to get a better view. Paccone climbed to the top of the Wraith and physically yanked the commander out of the hatch, where Alvarado and his men finished him off. Paccone then leapt into the vehicle and gunned down its hapless crew.

Meanwhile, the Elite and his Grunts swarmed the second Wraith. The Elite pried the hatch open. Plasma fire erupted from the open hatch, catching a Grunt in the face. Before its body managed to tumble off the vehicle, the other Grunts were already swarming inside, plasma pistols blazing.

"So do you know how to drive this thing?" Alvarado asked.

"Nope, I just plan on pushing random buttons and switches until something happens." Paccone replied.

Meanwhile, in the next street over, _Shiela_ was fighting desperately for her life as Wraiths began closing in on her.

"We're running low on shells!" Shion said nervously.

"Scottie! Get us an escape route!" Wrall yelled.

"Where do you want me to go?!" Scottie yelled back, "We got tanks in front of us, tanks behind us, and walls to either side! It's not exactly a country drive, you know!"

"We're in a goddamn Scorpion tank! Plow through something!"

Kazi groaned, "Don't tell me we're going to-"

Paccone and Alvarado watched in amazement as _Shiela_ smashed through the concrete wall in front of them. Their momentary disbelief was replaced with alarm as they caught sight of Loyalist Wraiths trying to enter the breach.

"Fire!" Paccone yelled to Alvarado, who was at the gun controls.

"I'm trying to figure out which one it is!"

"Just push the big blue one in the middle!"

"Is that it?"

"I don't know," Paccone shrugged, "what else can it possibly do?"

Alvarado hit the button. The Wraith's plasma mortar suddenly whined to life and fired, but the shot was high and slammed into the side of a building, raining molten debris down on the Wraiths. The Elite commanding the second Wraith was more successful, managing to score a direct hit on the leading Wraith. The stricken tank crashed, blocking the opening in the wall. With their entry point blocked, the rest of the Wraiths were forced to find an alternate route.

"Thanks for the assist there." Wrall said over the radio, "Though you could've given us a bit more warning. I damn near would've shot you if I had any shells left."

"And I missed you too, Wrall." Paccone replied. "Now turn that hunk of junk around and show these Covvies what the Marines can do!"

**Miller Memorial Hospital**

Sam fired one shot, killing a Jackal, but was quickly repaid with several dozen energy beams splashing against the windows and walls. Sam cursed and ducked behind a hospital bed.

"That's one down!"

"Yeah, at this rate, we'll probably have the rest of them by the end of the week." Leo replied, "There's got to be a better way to do this."

"I think I've got an idea." Sam activated her radio, "Sarge, you still alive?"

"What do you think, Private?" Paccone replied cheerfully.

Sam frowned. There was some sort of odd humming noise in the background, but she couldn't quite identify it.

"I've got a favor to ask. You've got any heavy firepower with you?"

"Heavy firepower? I'm sitting in the middle of it right now." Paccone laughed. "What do you need?"

"A little fire support on that office building a few blocks to the east of my position. The big green one."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Sam saw several plasma bolts slam into the side of the building, melting concrete and shattering glass.

Leo looked on and said, "You don't think…"

"Oh, it's very possible."

"Well, in any case," Leo glanced through is sights, "I don't think those Jackals are going to give us any problems."

An energy beam suddenly shot through a broken window and obliterated a water pitcher sitting on a nearby table.

"Well there are obviously a few of them left." Sam aimed her rifle and snuggled her sights over another Jackal's head…

**Marine Defense Line**

Kumi suddenly realized that she was all alone.

That was the worst feeling ever, to be alone in the middle of a warzone. Sam and Leo were of in their little hiding spot, and Paccone had disappeared the second she looked the other way. The only friendly people she could see were Covenant and Marines she hardly knew.

"Come on soldier, we're moving forward."

"What?" Kumi looked up and was startled to see Nicole standing over her. Kumi was both amazed and scared at how a person in such heavy armor could move so quietly.

"New orders." The Spartan continued coldly, "We're pushing forward."

"What about the reinforcements?"

"Well, they'll just have to catch up with us." Nicole slammed a fresh clip into her battle rifle, effectively ending the conversation.

**Command Post**

"I hope you know what you're doing, sir." Karla said cautiously as she observed the allied forces moving forward. "If our offensive is pushed back, well, I don't want to think about what would happen."

"It's a gamble we have to take." Mackenzie said confidently.

"I'm going."

"What?" Mackenzie turned around just in time to see Karla leaving. "Where are you going, Captain?"

"Somebody has to lead the charge in, sir, and frankly, I really can't trust anybody else to do it." Karla turned on her radio and said, "Williams, Tarin, get the Warthog prepped and ready to go."

"Roger that, Captain."

"Captain, what do you want us to do with the Elite?"

"What?"

"You know, the one called Mako."

"What does he want?" Karla frowned.

"He wants to come along with us. He's got his own Ghost and everything. Keeps saying something about 'fulfilling a promise' to his brother."

Karla stopped and thought for a second. She still wasn't quite sure if Mako was trustworthy or not. Even though he seemed to be swayed by the fact that his own species had split from the Covenant, she didn't want to take too many chances.

"Ah, to hell with it." Karla muttered to herself. She could use the extra firepower. "We can bring to him along, just make sure he doesn't try anything funny."

"Roger that, Captain."

Karla sighed and glanced at the fighting going on all along the defense line. If this half-assed counterattack managed to break the enemy offensive, maybe, just maybe they'd live to see the next day.


	7. Leading the Way

Chapter 7: Leading the Way

**Marine Defense Line**

"I can see a Wraith tank in the plaza around the corner." Sam motioned for Paccone to come look. "It has a good firing position on this entrance, so it's definitely a no-go."

Over the past hour, the human/Covenant coalition had been slowly trying to push the loyalists back away from the line, with some degree of success. Caught off guard, the loyalists were sent reeling and the defending forces managed to advance to the edges of what was once New Mombasa. However, it would only be a matter of time before the loyalists regrouped, so pushing them out of the city altogether was imperative.

"Any other way around?" Paccone asked.

"I think…" Sam peeked around the corner again. "If we use this alley, we could have one of our own tanks flank it."

Paccone nodded. "Wrall, you think you could squeeze your way through."

"To hell with that, we'll just bust the whole damn wall down if we need to."

With that, _Shiela _rumbled down the alley. Things were quiet for a few minutes, until Sam saw an armor piercing round suddenly zip through the air. The projectile slammed into the side of the Wraith, punching through one side and straight out the other with little apparent effort. Taking the initiative, one of the friendly Wraiths rushed around the corner, plasma mortar blazing. It managed to catch the stricken Wraith's crew by surprise, as they were attempting to evacuate their wrecked vehicle. The hot plasma reduced both crew and vehicle to a burning cinder.

"That was a lot easier than I thought." Paccone scratched his head.

To the left, a building exploded and began to crumble, sending Jackals and Brutes flying in all directions. The surprised advance force quickly turned to see what was going on. Out of the smoke, Nicole and a straggled squad of Marines and Grunts emerged.

"Left flank is secure." Nicole reported.

"Oh yeah, it's pretty secure all right." Kumi emerged from behind Nicole, short on breath. "We pretty much reduced most of the cityscape there into a pile of rubble. No real chance of any Covenant getting through there in significant numbers."

"Officer on deck!" A Marine shouted.

The mixed group turned to see a rather large convoy of human and Covenant vehicles pull into the plaza. There were a good number of Scorpions, Vipers, Warthogs, and their Covenant counterparts, along with infantry to back it up. At the head of this convoy was no other than Karla herself in her signature Warthog.

"Well, there are only two reasons why such a respected officer like Karla would be bother to come to the front lines." Paccone remarked. "She's either come to personally congratulate us for our hard work, or she's planning to make us do something incredibly stupid and suicidal."

"Good job men," Karla smiled, and then glanced at the Covenant, "and whatever you like to be called. We've managed to push the loyalists back, but there's only one thing left we have to do."

Karla dismounted her Warthog and pointed towards a knot of buildings just outside of New Mombasa. They were not human buildings, but a collection of Covenant buildings.

"From the intel we've gathered, that's where the loyalists are staging their attacks on us." Karla continued. "We take it, we effectively stop them in their tracks."

Many of the Marines and even the Covenant looked around and began muttering curiously. Another push? They were beginning to question their orders.

Not wanting to lose any authority, Karla explained further. "Look, I know that none of you want to do this, I understand. Hell, if I could, I would've just been content to let you all stay here and weather it out. However, this isn't the case, and unless we want to be knee deep in Covenant, we have to take them down hard and fast." She pointed to the target again and continued, "I expect all of you to be prepped and ready to move in two hours."

"Well, she certainly knows how to keep us busy." Paccone shook his head.

**Covenant Forward Position: "Glittering Jewel"**

Troop Commander Daedalus grimaced as he read the incoming reports. Against all expectations, his attack force had faltered and not only failed to break through the heretic line, but were completely repulsed. His forces were in danger of actually being pushed back right here to his headquarters. This was completely unacceptable. Such failure would earn the displeasure of Grand Inquisitor Lazarus, and ultimately the Prophet of Truth. Daedalus scanned his tactical reports again, and noticed that some of his forces had abandoned their positions in the face of the enemy and pulled all the way back to Glittering Jewel. Seething with fury, Daedalus picked up his force pike and stormed out of the command bunker.

Outside, Daedalus caught sight of the straggled convoy of Maliki's remaining forces. He stepped in front of the convoy, forcing the entire line of vehicles to shudder to a stop.

"I demand to see Unit Commander Maliki!" Daedalus yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I regret to inform you that Maliki was slain in battle." One of the Jiralhanae stood to attention. "I saw that the heretics were beginning to gain strength, so I took the initiative to pull back what forces I had and to regroup here."

"Yes…" Daedalus nodded. "What is your name, soldier?"

"Squad Commander-"

Daedalus never did find out the Jiralhanae's name. Without hesitation, he had swung his force pike around, cutting off the squad commander's sentence as effectively as his head. Watching as the lifeless head rolled across the ground, Daedalus turned to face the rest of the unit.

"Let that be an example for those who think cowardice is the way out! By the grace of the Prophets, you will return to your old position immediately and hold against the heretics!"

Suddenly, plasma and artillery began raining down into the compound, destroying vehicles and scattering panicked troopos. Daedalus took cover and realized what had happened. The heretics had taken advantage of the weakness of the line and were now boldly attacking the Glittering Jewel.

"All forces mobilize!" Daedalus yelled to his forces, "For the glory of the Covenant!"

**Covenant Habitation District 67**

Paccone and Alvarado's squads looked up to the heavens as they saw the faint traces of plasma fire arcing through the sky. More plasma began to appear as the defenders fired their own retaliatory strikes, creating a rather dazzling light show.

"Pretty." Sam grinned as she looked at the sky.

"Be quiet and keep moving." Paccone stepped over a pile of rubble. "We don't know when the Covvies will try to come back and close this gap."

Nearby, _Shiela_ and fellow Scorpion tank _Rockbiter_ sped down the road at full speed, flanked by a quartet of Warthogs and a dozen Wraith tanks. The Covenant here had abandoned their position so quickly, that some of their equipment was left behind intact. They hadn't even bothered to take the time to booby trap the area to slow down any potential enemy advances.

At the head o the convoy, Karla could see the edges of the Covenant compound, and the defenses being quickly erected.

"Wrall! Niven! Put some long range fire onto that line and keep them scattered!" Karla yelled.

The twin Scorpion cannons roared as they launched tank shells and machine gun rounds. Tracers zipped at the Covenant defenders, scattering them and weakening the already faltering defenses.

"All units move in!" Karla yelled.

A line of Warthogs and Ghosts shot forward to spearhead the attack, guns and plasma cannons blazing. The defenders responded with light weapons fire, which failed to break up the determined charge. By the time the infantry and armor had caught up, the first line of defense was already in shambles, with loyalist Covenant lying dead or dying and heaps of equipment left torched and burning.

Scanning the interior of the compound, Karla could see troops rallying around a single individual. It was a Brute hefting a rather massive pike.

"You know this guy?" Karla asked Mako, who was sitting in a Ghost hovering next to her Warthog.

"No." Mako shook his head. "But you should not underestimate Jiralhanae. Like you humans, they prefer physical weaponry, and Jiralhanae that possess large melee weapons are often of very high stature."

"Well well, we've got ourselves a target." Karla gazed at the distant Brute. "Take 'em down!"

Both sides began to open fire on one another. Preferring a slow, controlled advance, the Marines lagged slightly behind the separatist Covenant. However, it could have just been that the Marines were a little more content to let the Covenant absorb some casualties. Karla suspected it, but really had no proof.

"Is it me, or does it look like everybody's just sticking back in cover?" Kumi pointed to the other Marine squads taking cover behind piles of rubble, providing sporadic, long range fire against the loyalist Covenant positions.

"They're the smart ones." Paccone grinned as he dove for cover.

Sam and Leo were already hastily setting up their sniper equipment.

Meanwhile, Karla growled as she saw her Marines lagging behind. Of course, they were looking to provide long-range cover fire rather than having to engage in a melee assault. Hell, even the tanks had opted to stay at range.

"How troublesome." Karla muttered to herself.

Currently, the only assets under her direct command nearby were her other three Warthogs, one of them carrying Nicole, and Mako.

And to hell if she thought she could rely on the separatist Covenant around them.

"Arbalest Two Three Four, we're going straight in. Keep moving and blast whatever you can."

"Roger that." The three Warthogs quickly accelerated, guns blazing.

Karla loaded her rifle and motioned for Williams to move in as well. He nodded and stepped on the accelerator. Tarin began powering up the Warthog's LAAG.

The fighting was fast and furious. Ghosts sped in and out of the vicious melee, firing plasma in all directions. Individual infantry began engaging each other as well, attempting to dodge enemy fire as well as the heavy volume of vehicle traffic.

"We've got fuel rods to our right!" Williams yelled.

Tarin swung the LAAG around to a pair of Jackals attempting to draw a bead on them. The gun's electric motor revved for a brief second before spitting hundreds of rounds in the air, tearing the Jackals apart. Arbalest Two sped by, lending support fire with its mounted gauss gun. Karla caught sight of Nicole in the passenger seat, picking off Brutes with deadly accuracy.

"Watch it!" Tarin screamed.

Karla turned to see that they were headed straight towards the apparently high ranking Brute she had seen earlier. For a moment, she thought that her Warthog would smash it flat onto the ground. If only that were the case.

Instead, the Brute leapt into the air and landed on the hood of the Warthog, forcing it to nose down in the dirt. Williams body snapped forward, bashing his face into the steering wheel and knocking him out cold. Tarin was flung from the rear and hit the ground rolling, only to find herself on the wrong end of Daedalus' force pike.

"Shit." Tarin breathed.

Suddenly, Daedalus caught something on the corner of his vision and was barely able to block the plasma sword aimed straight for his head. He turned to face his new attacker, surprised to find that it was yet another pesky human, rather than a Sangheli.

"You're one ugly son of a bitch, aren't you?" Karla readied her sword.

Daedalus powered up his force pike and pointed it straight at his adversary. "You shall pay for your insolence, human!"

Daedalus charged, force pike at the ready. However, the human ducked his swing, rolled to the side, and began firing her pistol. The rounds stung rather badly, but they caused no serious damage.

"What did you expect to happen?" Daedalus laughed, "Your pitiful weapons cannot harm me."

"Wasn't the plan, stupid." Karla grinned.

There was a distant _crack_ and Daedalus felt a sharp pain in his shoulder before realizing that he could see his own arm lying on the ground.

"Damnit Sam, you were supposed to shoot him in the _head_." Karla growled in her radio.

"Sorry!" Sam replied, rather embarrassed at her inaccuracy.

"Well crap, what do we do now?" Tarin stared at the Brute, who was apparently unphased at the loss of its arm.

"_You _go see if Williams is still alive." Karla nodded to the Warthog. "_I'll_ take care of this big stinky gorilla."

Daedalus charged again, ignoring the fact that he was missing his left arm. His remaining one could still wield the pike, and that was all he needed.

Karla deftly sidestepped the Brute's pike as it swung it down. The weapon slammed into the dirt, sending small shockwaves through the ground that made Karla's teeth rattle. Karla then lunged, stabbing her plasma sword straight into the Brute's gut. Unfortunately, that tactic apparently wasn't enough to put down a Brute for good. The massive alien roared and swung its fist out, catching Karla in the chest and knocking her back. She also lost grip on her sword, which was still stuck in the Brute.

"Why can't you just die!" Karla gasped as she tried to get back up. It felt as she had been hit by a truck.

"My death will come when the Prophets decide it." Daedalus coughed and picked up his force pike.

Karla looked around. This certainly wasn't good. Like an idiot, she had banked all of her chances in a single kill shot, a really stupid mistake. Her rifle was lying on the ground a few feet away, just out of reach. Her sword was in the Brute's belly, and her pistol wouldn't do much more than annoy it. This was not going to be fun.

Suddenly, a Ghost popped out of nowhere, slamming right into the Brute and crushing it against a Wraith carcass. The Brute's eyes widened and popped out of its sockets as its body was crushed by the sheer force. Not even a Brute could survive that.

"What took you so long?"

"Ghosts are notoriously hard to steer at high speeds." Mako walked up to Karla's side. "Plus I had to make sure it would stay on course."

"What did we miss? Tarin also came up to Karla's side, supporting a dazed Williams.

"Nothing really."

Arbalest Three pulled up to the straggled group. The fire was beginning to die down and become more sporadic, which meant the battle was beginning to wind down.

"You okay there, Captain?" Arbalest Three's driver asked.

"Still alive. What's the situation?"

The driver looked around and said, "Well, the 'good' Covvies managed to push the 'bad' Covvies out of the area. The bastards ran off so fast they left behind a good deal of equipment just sitting here."

"Good." Karla activated her radio and announced, "All units, move forward. Firebase Sherman is now open for business."

**Grand Citadel**

Grand Inquisitor Lazarus snarled as he read the reports coming in. The heretics were now quite literally at the gates, trying to break their way into the last bastion of hope on this planet. If only those accursed Sangheli would just kneel down and accept their rightful place. Lazarus grunted and looked at the senior Jiralhanae commanders in front of him.

"I am disappointed in you." Lazarus said coldly to the assembled commanders. "I was almost convinced that all of you had the necessary _faith_ and _conviction_ to see this period of transition through."

The Jiralhanae looked at each other nervously, wondering what Lazarus was trying to get at. They were quickly interrupted when Lazarus slammed his mighty Demonhammer on the floor, cracking the metal plating and sending shockwaves throughout the room. Suddenly, the chamber doors opened and two Jiralhanae Royal Guards poked their heads in to check the commotion. When they saw that it was only the commanders that were in danger and not the Grand Inquisitor, they pulled their heads back out and closed the door.

"What I get in return is a bunch of fools!" Lazarus yelled, his eyes and Demonhammer blazing. "Through your ignorance and ineptitude, you have let the heretics corrupt this glorious planet and risk them fouling this holy ground!"

"But Grand Inquisitor," One of the commanders stood up, "The unexpected arrival of the humans has-"

The Jiralhanae never had a chance to finish his sentence. Lazarus' Demonhammer swung down and slammed his head into the ground. Blood and bone fragments flew in all directions like an exploding watermelon, causing the other commanders to wince.

Still drunk with rage, Lazarus glared at the remaining commanders, his eyes blazing.

"They are only mere humans! They should not make any difference in how this conflict is prosecuted. They are worthless bugs, just like the Sangheli!" Lazarus pointed to the door. "I will be returning to my quarters. By the time I get there, I expect to see that you have assembled all available forces and are pursuing those wretched heretics off this planet!"

The Jiralhanae all nodded and quickly exited the room. To any other species, the sight of Jiralhanae running scared was a very surreal sight. However, in the presence of somebody as great and might as Grand Inquisitor Lazarus, it was an everyday occurrence.

"So," Lazarus growled as he gazed out of one of the Citadel's wide observation windows, "What is your next move?"

**Firebase Sherman**

"I'm going to get to the top of that tower and plant this on top of it." Karla said, pointing to the Citadel and then to the UNSC Marine Corp flag she was holding.

"Good luck with that." Paccone smirked. "Tell me if you need someone to carry that for you. It looks pretty heavy for you to be carrying around."

Karla's eye twitched, but she didn't respond. Sam, who was nearby and overheard the conversation, turned away to hide her laughter. Leo merely sighed and shook his head.

"I don't understand." A Sangheli turned to Mako, "The inferior has obviously insulted his superior's honor, yet she does not chastise or execute him."

"It's a Human thing." Mako shrugged, "I don't think even they can fully understand."


	8. The Calm

Chapter 8: The Calm

**Firebase Sherman**

"Captain Wellings."

"Sir?" Karla looked up from her makeshift desk and saw Major Mackenzie standing over her.

"You've been up for the past eighteen hours. Now, I know that you've been trained to stay awake for longer periods of time, but seriously, no sane officer would pass up an opportunity to get some rest." Mackenzie pointed out the open door. "I suggest you take this opportunity to get some sleep."

"But sir," Karla protested, "we still have to finalize all the details for the upcoming offensive-"

"I know, but that's my job." Major Mackenzie grinned, "Besides, these 'Sangheli' officers are a lot more competent than I gave them credit for. You've got nothing to worry about."

"But sir-"

"Consider it an order, Captain." Mackenzie turned and waved her off. "I can't have my most capable officers dozing off in the middle of combat."

And that was how Karla found herself walking among the troops in the makeshift base. Soldiers both human and Covenant alike were trying to wind down after a day of brutal fighting. There was a lull in combat and with no enemies around to be a threat, nobody saw any reason why they couldn't relax a bit. Karla noticed that the troops were still segregated based on race and affiliation, with the Covenant and humans all congregating into their own little packs. At least they were being civil and polite about it. Karla could see no arguments or infighting between the groups. If there was a bright side to the fighting today, it was that it convinced both sides that they could depend on one another.

"Tough day?"

Karla turned to see Tarin and Williams, as well as a pair of Covenant Engineers working on her Warthog. The vehicle had suffered some minor damage during the fighting, if a Brute landing on the hood could be considered a minor inconvenience.

"You know it." Karla sighed and looked at Williams. "How's the head?"

"A few bruises and cuts, and it still hurts like no tomorrow. Other than that, the medics said I should have no problem." Williams shrugged.

"Well, that's a relief." Karla grinned. "Can't have my pet sergeant dying on me. Then I'd have nobody to boss around."

"What about Tarin?" Williams groaned.

"_What about_ me?" Tarin scowled.

"Boss around Tarin? Me?" Karla said mockingly, as if the comment had shocked her. "Tarin's smart, talented, and rather intimidating. Those are qualities you lack, Williams. Plus, unlike you, she's an officer, so bossing her around would just make me look mean."

"Permission to shoot myself, Captain?" Williams said glumly.

"Granted. Just don't mess up the paint job." Karla gestured to her Warthog.

"I'll keep that in mind, Captain."

Tarin raised her head. "Hey, whatever happened to that Spartan? I haven't seen her around lately."

"Now that, I don't really know." Karla shrugged. The Spartan tended to be very secretive and kept to herself during noncombat hours.

"Anything you need us to do, Captain?" Tarin asked.

"Just make sure we don't start killing each other." Karla nodded to the human/Covenant soldiers milling about.

"Got it." Tarin said. Both she and Williams saluted.

Karla returned the salute and moved off again. She didn't go far before running into Captain Wrall and his tank crew, seeing as how most of the human vehicles were being kept in a central location. Of course, Wrall and his crew were busy trying to fix that damn troublesome tank of theirs. They did have the help of those odd Covenant engineers, but Karla could swear that even the aliens born to tinker with mechanical objects seemed to be dumbfounded and confused at the tank's inner workings.

"Busy as always." Karla commented as she looked at the furious efforts to repair the ancient machine.

"I swear, the damn thing's got a mind of her own." Wrall sighed. "We've gone through every inch of wire, line of programming, and piece of equipment on that tank and still we can't find anything wrong with it."

"So it should be totally fine."

"Logically, yes. In actual practice, no. There's always something going wrong with her, like the gun jamming, or the engines stalling, or the electrical systems failing…"

"Maybe you should just treat her a little nicer." Karla shrugged.

"Of all the people, I've never taken you to be a believer in the 'machine spirit' stuff, Captain." Wrall grimaced.

"I'm not. It's just a harmless suggestion."

"I guess." Wrall shrugged.

Both Karla and Wrall stood there silently for a few minutes, watching Scottie and Kazi arguing with each other, Shion trying to get them to calm down, and the Covenant engineers seemingly oblivious to everything but their work.

"Interesting crew you've got here." Karla said, breaking the silence.

"Well of course." Wrall scratched his head. "My day wouldn't be complete without them."

"The short one there, Shion was her name, wasn't it? She's the replacement you've been talking about." Karla pointed to Wrall's young loader.

"That's right." Wrall nodded grimly. "Our last loader, Loran Kris, was killed back when we were fighting on Aeola."

Aeola. It felt as if an eternity had passed since the battles that had taken place there. It really had Karla thinking what they did to end up in a place such as this.

Wrall continued on, saying, "Poor guy bit it when our old tank _Amanda_ got hit by a fuel rod. It set off the shells in storage, but the safety doors failed to close. By the time me, Scottie, and Kazi got out, the shells exploded. I don't how, but Loran was still alive after that, but trapped inside the tank. There was no way we could get near it with all the heat and fire. His radio link was still up, and we could hear him screaming in there while he was burned alive…"

Karla nodded and patted Wrall on the back. "There was nothing you could have done about that, Wrall."

"Sure." Wrall snorted. "That's what everybody told me."

Karla left Wrall and his crew to finish their repairs on their tank. Again, she meandered throughout the camp, making sure her Marines were acting civil and chastising or praising them where it was necessary. She then stumbled along Sam and a couple of her squadmates, who were undoubtedly planning some kind of scheme.

"Beautiful sky, isn't it, sis?" Sam cracked a smile as she saw Karla approach.

"In all honesty, I've never taken the time to look." Karla glanced at the other two Marines, Leo and Kumi. "You know, with all the shooting going on."

"Aw, you're no fun. You're always so serious all the time."

Karla's eye twitched. "And you never seem to take anything seriously."

"Well, I'm only a lowly private, so I don't quite have as many responsibilities to take care of, _Captain_." Sam grinned.

"Point."

"Ma'am." Leo stood up and faced Karla with a nervous look on his face. "What's going to happen? I mean, how long are going to be stuck here and what are we going to do?"

"Well, that question I really can't answer. Our new Covenant friends here may be inclined to help us out after this whole revolution blows over, but I can give no guarantees." Karla then looked up and said, "Hmph, that _is_ a pretty beautiful sky."

"Told you." Sam gazed upwards as well.

Not only were the stars rather striking and beautiful, but so were the bright sparkles and streaks in the sky. In the back of her mind, Karla knew that those effects were being caused by ships exploding and their wreckage burning up in the atmosphere. However, it was all still mesmerizing, in a somewhat macabre way.

"Well, I'd love to stay, but I'm going to have to ask you where your sergeant is."

"Is this about that 'thing' you had with him a few years back?" Leo asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that." Sam stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Karla grimaced. "You know about that?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Sam feigned a gag, "Do you know how unbelievably _wrong_ it is to know that your older sister is dating your direct superior? It's just plain _creepy_."

"Hey, you don't see me complaining about your choice in men." Karla pointed her thumb at Leo.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo said, slightly offended.

"Goddamn, I haven't said a damn thing and this conversation is already getting better and better." Kumi laughed.

"Well anyways, I guess I'll go find him myself." Karla turned around and began to walk away. "Just don't get _too_ relaxed. I can guarantee that we're going to be in combat again, and I'd hate to see any of you die."

"I'm touched." Sam smiled.

"I'd have nobody to boss around after all this is over." Karla cracked a demonic smile and disappeared into the night.

"I know she's you sister, but she honestly scares me sometimes." Leo said.

"You get used to it." Sam said, drawing an imaginary constellation in the sky.

It wasn't long until Karla managed to find Paccone, lounging around at the side of a derelict and abandoned Wraith at the edge of the camp. He had a bottle of whiskey at his side and a cigarette in his mouth, merely enjoying the night by himself.

"Smoking _and_ drinking while on duty?" Karla sat down next to Paccone. "You know those things will eventually kill you."

"Better them than the Covvies." Paccone snorted.

"I mean, the drinking I can understand. I don't know how you managed to smuggle that thing here, but I'm not surprised. What's really got me going is the cigarettes. I thought you hated smoking."

"I do." Paccone coughed. "It's just something I do from time to time."

"Really?" Karla's curiosity was genuinely piqued. "I'd like to know why."

"Well…" Paccone took a deep breath and sighed. "I met this girl quite a few years back. Smart, funny, and looks hot enough to melt a block of titanium A."

"Uh huh…" Karla narrowed her eyes, wondering what Paccone was trying to get at.

"Anyways, there was one time where she caught me smoking one time, for reasons I can't quite remember. She just laughed and told me it was the only time I ever looked serious." Paccone shrugged, "It was probably the closest thing to a compliment she ever gave me."

"Aran, Solomon System. 2548." Karla nodded and grinned. "Now it's all coming back to me."

_**Marine Depot No. 12, Reach**_

_**April 4, 2548**_

"_Um, excuse me."_

_Sergeant Ronald Paccone and Private Ryan Hubbard both turned their heads to face the source the unfamiliar and somewhat awkward voice. They saw a very young, very attractive girl with second lieutenant stripes standing at the door to the barracks. Her golden blonde hair, sapphire eyes, and lean figure immediately caught the eyes of every Marine in the room._

_Paccone, always the fast thinker, beat the other Marines around him and said, "What can I do for you this fine day, Lieutenant?"_

"_I was told to report to Lieutenant Fisk in the Company barracks." The girl scratched her head._

"_Well, you just missed him. He just left to Division HQ." Paccone said. _

"_But I was just there! They were the ones who told me to come here." The young second lieutenant said, somewhat confused._

"_Ah don't worry. Fisk will be back eventually. Besides, in my personal opinion, the guy is a moron." Paccone laughed and noticed the shock on the girl's face. "Don't worry. Spend a few days with him and you'll know what I mean. By the way, you haven't introduced yourself…"_

"_Second Lieutenant Karla Wellings, reporting for duty." Karla snapped off a quick salute._

"_A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant." Paccone returned the salute, albeit a much sloppier one. "I'm Sergeant Ronald Paccone. Pretty boy here next to me is Private Ryan Hubbard, and I'm sure you'll eventually get to know the rest of the bozos in here."_

"_Yeah, great job introducing us, Sarge." One of the Marines snorted._

"_Anyways," Paccone said, still facing Karla, "Sit down, make yourself at home. Fisk is going to have to eventually come by here anyways."_

"_I guess…" Karla sat down next to Paccone and Ryan._

"_Since you're an officer, I think it's safe to assume that you signed up for the Marines." Paccone said, glancing at Karla's rank insignia._

"_That's right." Karla blinked._

"_Well, poor Ryan here, unlike you or me, is a draftee. It's a pretty funny story, actually."_

"_Yeah, funny for you." Ryan grumbled._

"_It looks like we've got time to kill." Karla looked around, but found no signs of any superior officers around. "Why don't you just humor me."_

"_Well…" Ryan cleared his throat, "I always intended to something in the war, but I never really wanted to do it as a Marine. I really don't have much of a stomach for combat. When I was old enough, I filed a job application of the Office of Naval Intelligence, but it was just my luck that I got a draft notice from the Marine Corps on the exact same day. It takes months, even years for ONI to process applications. You know, background checks and all that, so it looks like I'm stuck here for the time being."_

"_That really sucks." Karla frowned. _

"_It does. That's why I filed for transfer out of this frontline unit to a logistics unit, you know, to buy some time for myself."_

"_Wait, draftees usually aren't given the freedom to choose where they want to serve." Karla narrowed her eyes. "Not through normal means anyways."_

"_Like I said." Ryan shrugged. "I originally wanted to work in ONI."_

"_So what unit are you planning to transfer to?"_

"_The 12th Water Purification Unit. It sounds peaceful enough."_

_Suddenly, Karla burst out laughing, catching the attention of the rest of the Marines in the room._

"_Oh my god…" Karla wiped a tear from her eye, "For a wannabe spook, you sure are dense."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Well, consider this. Every army, no matter how great or powerful they are, can and will ultimately fail if they aren't adequately supplied. A lot of the most famous military commanders like Napoleon learned this the hard way." Karla then took out a small sheet of paper and pointed at it. "Our deployment orders warn us that the planet we're going to is going to have a 'dry and arid environment'. That means people, especially the frontline units, are going to need water. With all this in mind, what unit do you think will be GUARANTEED to be sent to the front lines?"_

"_Crap." Ryan sighed._

"_Well, it looks like you're going to see combat whether you want to or not." Paccone laughed and slapped Ryan's back. "Don't worry, if you stay with us, I can guarantee you that you'll feel better fighting with some REAL Marines rather than those rear echelon wimps."_

"_This sucks." Ryan slumped and shook his head._

_**Aran, Solomon System**_

_**June 12, 2548**_

_After spending a few weeks skirmishing with the Covenant, Karla felt that she had a good understanding of the people in her unit. Fisk, like Paccone had said, was a complete moron. He lacked any kind of strategic or tactical thinking, never bothered to understand what was going on, and gave rather haphazard, half-thought orders. Fortunately, Fisk usually never spent much time with his unit, which meant nobody had to take his orders seriously. Paccone, Karla thought, was pretty much the epitome of the typical recruitment poster Marine. He was tough as nails, took crap from nobody, and had little, if any, respect for officers. Ryan, true to his word, was not a grade A Marine. He generally suffered from poor combat performance but had a knack for predicting Covenant movements just by observing a couple of battles. Karla felt that if he lived long enough for ONI to reply to his application, he'd have a bright future ahead of him in Intelligence work. _

_At the moment, they Karla was tagging along with Paccone's squad for a routine patrol mission. Fisk, in his typical fashion, had merely pointed in a direction and told Paccone to go find Covenant. Every single patrol would to date would have fallen apart if she hadn't been there to pick up the pieces._

"_You see anything?" Karla asked._

"_Nothing." Paccone crawled forward and poked his head just over the sand dune he and his squad were taking cover behind. "Of course, it's too goddamn dark to see much anyways."_

"_I'm pretty sure there's something out there." Ryan commented. "The Covenant here tend not to move at night. They expend so much energy trying to raid our positions every day that the heat will eventually get to them."_

"_You can see the relief wash across my face." Paccone said sarcastically._

"_Shutup. The Covvies may not be able to hear us, but they can sure as hell hear if you keep gossiping like schoolgirls." Karla grunted and pointed to the sky. "Night flare. Now."_

_One of the nearby Marines nodded and armed his grenade launcher. The M40 LGL was a man-portable grenade launcher that could launch six 40mm or even 80mm grenades in quick succession with lethal accuracy. Not only did it pack a punch against hardened targets, but it also specialized in certain other areas as well. The Marine loaded a special round into the weapon, aimed it at the sky and fired._

_With a dull _whump_, the nightflare shot up into the sky. Once it reached the peak of its climb, the small grenade automatically deployed a parachute and slowly floated to the ground. To the naked eye, the nightflare looked like a weak, flickering star in the sky. In truth, the nightflare released certain spectrums of light, one of which nightvision goggles were designed to pick up._

_Karla slowly slid her nightvision goggles over her eyes. The nightflare illuminated the entire desert like a green sun. Karla could clearly make out signs of Covenant movement, but nothing to suggest that any were there. She considered calling off the patrol until she heard a very familiar and distressing hissing sound. She cautiously turned her head and saw a Covenant plasma grenade roll its way over the dune and next to her head._

"_Take cover!" Karla yelled and immediately rolled down the side of the dune. The plasma grenade exploded, creating a huge geyser of superheated sand. In response, the Marines began lobbing their own grenades over the top of the dune. The explosions and alien shouting confirmed Karla's now grown suspicions._

_They had wandered straight into the Covenant line, and the Covenant were literally sitting on the other side of the dune._

"_Fall back!" Karla yelled, spraying the top of the dune with her assault rifle. She had no idea how many Covenant were on the other side. It could have been a patrol similar to hers, or an entire assault force. Regardless, Karla didn't want to take any chances._

_Sure enough, a group of Elites and Grunts scrambled over the top of the dune, trying to get a good view of the action. Several Grunts and Elites were struck by the rampant rifle fire, their bodies rolling down the dune. The rest held back and began to return fire. By this time, most of the Marine squad had reached the safety of the dunes behind them. Karla and Ryan were the last to retreat. Karla was trying to cover Ryan, who was struggling in the soft desert sand. Plasma bolts and needler rounds pounded the sand around them, and the fire began to get uncomfortably more accurate._

"_Move it, Ryan!" Karla yelled as she tried to suppress a fireteam of Elites, with little success._

"_I'm almost there!" Ryan panted as he scrambled up the dune._

_However, before he could reach the top of the dune, a burst of stray needler rounds punched into Ryan's thigh, mangling it in an instant. Ryan screamed in pain and the tumbled down the dune, back towards the Covenant line. Karla cursed and glanced at Ryan's limp body. She had no clue whether he was alive or dead. If he was dead, then going down there would be waste. Karla briefly considered just leaving him down there and getting back over the dune._

_However, Karla's line of thought was interrupted when she saw Paccone sliding down the dune a few feet to her right. He was yelling and firing wildly at the Covenant, but from his eyes, Karla could tell that he was solely focused on Ryan. Before she knew it, Karla found herself following Paccone down the dune that proved to be so much trouble scaling before. Despite the heavy storm of fire raining down from the Covenant line, Karla and Paccone managed to haul the unconscious Ryan to his feet and dragged him back to the safety of the opposite end of the dune. Seeing that their second lieutenant and sergeant needed help, the rest of the Marine squad broke cover and began providing cover fire. The firefight lasted for three more minutes, but the Marines were able to successfully disengage from the Covenant and reach friendly lines. The final count was about a dozen Covenant casualties and three Marines wounded._

_Karla waited outside of the aid tent, where a team of Marine medics were busy trying to stabilize Ryan. His wounds were so severe that he would have to be transported to one of the orbiting Navy ships for proper medical care. She then heard something and turned her head to see Paccone standing next to her._

"_So, how is he?" Karla asked._

"_He'll live. He's complaining a lot, but I'll take that as a good sign." Paccone sighed and lit a cigarette._

"_You know those things will kill you."_

"_Yeah, I've been trying to wean myself off these things, but there are just those times…" Paccone trailed off. _

"_But I do admit," Karla grinned, "seeing you like that, I'd actually think were being serious about something."_

"_You really think?" Paccone laughed._

"_But it sort of makes me wonder, why exactly did you go down that dune for Ryan in the first place?" Karla glanced at Paccone curiously. "He could've already been dead and you could've been killed for nothing."_

"_Well Lieutenant," Paccone dropped his cigarette and pressed it into the sand with his boot, "If there's ever the slightest chance that I can get a back to camp alive, I'll take it. It's just one of those things that you just can't take the time to think about."_

"_Really…"_

"_I know that's what you did." Paccone gave a hard look at Karla. "And I don't blame you. You're new, but eventually, there will come a time where you'll have to make a tough call, and you can't hesitate like you did today."_

_Karla nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."_

"_Excuse me."_

_Karla and Paccone both looked to see a black-clad man standing before them. From the looks of his outfit, and the insignia it was bearing, both Marines quickly deduced that he was an ONI agent._

"_What can we do for you, Lieutenant?" Karla asked._

"_I'm here to find Private Ryan Hubbard." The ONI agent's eyes scanned the whole camp and he said this. "I have some matters to discuss with him."_

"_Well, there might be a problem with that." Karla pointed to the aid station. "Private Hubbard was wounded during a firefight. We're getting ready to transfer him and he may not be in a condition to talk."_

"_Don't worry. I'll be able to handle myself." The ONI agent nodded to both Marines and entered the aid tent._

"_You think they finally got around to look at his application?" Karla asked._

"_Unless he was some kind of Covvie spy." Paccone shrugged. "It's about damn time anyways. Poor guy can't even shoot straight. Let's hope he'll find what he wants in ONI."_

"_Let's hope so." Karla had the disturbing feeling that she was going to see Ryan again. Whether she would like it, she didn't know._

**Karth, System Unknown**

**Exact Date Unknown, 2552**

"Damn, a lot can change in just a few years." Paccone scratched his head. "Back then, you were just some naïve second lieutenant nobody really paid attention to."

"Yeah, well you're still a complete asshole." Karla retorted.

Both Karla and Paccone sat there for a few seconds, just staring at the stars above them.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Karla cocked her head curiously, wondering what Paccone was trying to say.

"Back on Sera Gamma, I disobeyed orders and abandoned my position. I know that's one reason why that whole thing turned out the way it did."

"No, it's not that." Karla shook her head. "Like someone told me, sometimes you have to make a tough call and you can't hesitate."

"Then why the hell-"

"I was really _really_ pissed at the time. I was angry at so many things, the Covenant, Fisk, the whole goddamned planet, even you." Karla sighed and looked at Paccone sadly. "I guess I unfairly piled most of it on you. And to think I still had the gall to make that little promise to myself."

"What promise?" Paccone said, perplexed.

"Oh right, I never told you." Karla shifted a little closer and leaned towards Paccone's ear. "I promised myself that I'd bring every Marine I could back home alive, no matter what."

Paccone burst out laughing. "So I guess a dirty old sergeant like me can teach a white-collar officer like you something of value."

"I guess so." Karla said, a bit of a wicked glint in her eyes.

Before Paccone knew it, Karla shoved him against the Wraith. Paccone hit the side of the derelict tank and was surprised to see Karla pinning him against it. She pulled off her helmet, letting her golden hair flow freely, bent down and kissed Paccone full on the mouth.

"What did I do to deserve that?" Paccone gasped when she finally pulled her lips away from his.

"Reminding me why it was wrong to be so pissed at you." Karla replied before silencing Paccone with another kiss.

Paccone didn't resist this time. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Karla's slender body and slowly began slipping her combat vest off…

**Not so far away**

For some unknown reason, Sam stopped in her tracks and shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Leo asked.

"I just had that terrible feeling that something very very _wrong_ just happened." Sam shivered. "I can't quite explain it."

"You know, have you seen Sergeant Paccone anywhere?" Kumi looked around him. "I haven't seen him for the past few hours."

"No idea, but then Sam's sister went off looking for him…"

All three Marines looked at each other, each contemplating the same, unimaginable horror.

"Nah." Sam, Leo and Kumi shook their heads and returned to their current scheme.


	9. Coming in Hard and Fast

Chapter 9: Coming in Hard and Fast

**Firebase Sherman Command Tent**

"She's late." Mako growled.

"I'm sure she has her reasons." Major Mackenzie sighed.

Officers from both the Marine and Rebel Covenant forces had gathered together in the command tent/makeshift briefing room to try and discuss a strategy for their ultimate goal: the capture of the Loyalist Covenant's last remaining stronghold on Karth.

"Sorry I'm late sir." Karla strode into the room.

"Ah, Captain Wellings. I'm glad that you could make it." Mackenzie grinned.

Karla sat down and realized that her helmet didn't really fit quite right. Shit, she probably picked up Paccone's helmet by accident. It didn't really matter much anyway, since she was planning on taking it off during the briefing.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can finally begin this briefing." Mackenzie nodded to Pelamee who was standing next to him. "Me and Unit Commander Pelamee have been discussing a suitable war strategy for ending the civil war on Karth and right now, we are actually in a position to achieve that objective."

There was some anxious muttering throughout the tent. This was obviously big news. Mackenzie pointed to a crudely drawn map of the Citadel and the surrounding cityscape.

"We've punched a hole in the Loyalist Covenant line that gives us a straight approach to the Citadel, the last serious base of power for them on this entire planet. However, it should come to no surprise that the objective in question also happens to be the most heavily defended area on the entire planet." There were several snickers among the audience at the remark. "To pull this off, both we and our Covenant friends here will be playing to our strengths."

Mackenzie picked up a marker and began drawing several large arrows on the map, each one pointing towards the Citadel.

"Pelamee and his forces are going to use their numbers advantage, surround the Citadel, and push it in from all sides. Meanwhile, our forces will be driving straight in." Mackenzie pointed to a small arrow on the map. "We'll punch through the weakest point of their line and destroy them from the inside out."

"Excuse me, sir." Wrall raised his hand. "But how are we going to do that?"

"Pelamee and his associates have informed me that there is a maze of utility tunnels underneath the Citadel. The tunnels are not guarded very heavily because the Loyalists aren't expecting much activity down there."

"How wide are the tunnels?"

"They're pretty narrow, but they're big enough to cram a Scorpion through. That's how we're going to punch through down there. I'm pretty sure the Covvies down there won't know what to do when staring down the barrel of Scorpion."

Everybody laughed at the prospect.

"Anyways," Mackenzie continued, "We'll have sniper teams posted on the surrounding buildings for recon and suppression duties. We'll also be landing a small crack unit onto the roof of the Citadel and try and breach the thing from the top. That's where our Pelicans come in."

"Are there any anti-aircraft defenses around the Citadel?" Barfbag asked nervously.

"Well of course there are." Mackenzie drew several circles on the map. "There's a ring of plasma turrets designed to shoot down incoming aircraft, but Pelamee's Banshees should help screen you against their fire. Is everything clear now?"

Mackenzie eyed the audience again, waiting for any more questions.

"I also have to inform you that we are committing _everything_ we have to this battle. That means the only assets you'll have at your disposal are the ones you bring with you. We have no reserves, no reinforcements, and we can't totally rely on the Separatists to back us up."

"So this is basically a do-or-die mission." Karla said.

"In so many words, yes." Mackenzie nodded. "The attack is scheduled to start in eighteen hours. I suggest you start organizing your men and packing up whatever you can. Dismissed."

**Firebase Sherman**

"I hope you like flying, boys and girls." Paccone grinned as he approached his squad. "We're one of the lucky squads who are going to get straight into the middle of the pile of crap that's building up."

"Typical." Kumi sighed.

"Sam and Leo are on sniper duty. Suppression, recon, all that normal stuff. The rest of us be knocking on the roof of whatever the hell they call that huge tower thing." Paccone pointed to the Citadel in the distance. "And our lives will be in the hands of good ol Barfbag."

"Crap." Sam, Leo, and Kumi all said in unison.

**Motor Pool**

"Get them ready and get them moving!" Karla yelled as Marines hurriedly began packing and inspecting their vehicles. "Get these vehicles combat ready!"

"We're really going all out on this one, aren't we?" Wrall strode alongside Karla. "I mean, we're even grabbing the transport and supply hogs and bolting weapons onto them."

"That's right. We're going to need every ounce of firepower we can get. This operation is going to depend on a lot our armored push."

"But in narrow tunnels. Damn, that's going to be murder on our mobility." Wrall winced.

"It can't be helped." Karla shrugged. "We're running so low on supplies, the Pelicans are pretty much on their last tanks of fuel and some of our Marines barely even have a full clip of ammunition. We have to end the fighting on our terms or we all die."

"No pressure, huh?"

"You cannot even begin to imagine."

**5 kilometers from the Citadel**

"I hope you kids are strapped in tight." Barfbag said as he leveled out his Pelican. "I predict that things are going to get bad and get bad _fast_."

Barfbag glanced at the rear of the Pelican and made a quick count of his passengers. He had one Marine squad and a Spartan sitting in his ship. As if that weren't bad enough, he and the rest of the Pelican formation were surrounded by a flight of supposedly friendly Banshees, headed towards a heavily defended LZ, all while running on half a tank of fuel.

Yeah, there wasn't a single thing that could go wrong here.

"We've reached the first LZ. Sniper Team Five, now is the time to get the hell off of my ship."

"And we love you too, Barfbag." Sam said sweetly as she hopped off the Pelican. "Try not to play chicken with the ground or anything. It'll suck trying to find a new sergeant I like."

Sam and Leo watched as the Pelican slowly rose in the air and shot away into the distance. They then immediately began to set up their sniper gear. Sam quickly assembled and mounted her rifle, ready to fire while Leo set up his optical and communications gear. Once the other sniper teams had sent confirmation of their locations, they began to scan their designated zones.

"This is Sniper Team Five." Leo said into his radio. "Sectors Three to Six are hot. Multiple infantry and armor units taking position from position 432 to 535."

"Roger that, Sniper Team Five." An anonymous controller replied, "Continue reconnaissance. Orders are to hold fire until cleared to do so."

"Damn." Sam sighed. "Guess I'll just have to wait for my fun."

**Citadel Utility Tunnels**

"I despise these tunnels.' A'kash hissed as he slunk along the interior of the utility tunnel. "It is too hot, too humid, too dark, and too damp down here for my tastes."

"Calm yourself, A'kash." K'var sighed. However, he had similar sentiments. Patrolling the Citadel utility tunnels was usually a task delegated to the Unggoy, but ever since the ungrateful little creatures rebelled along with the Sangheili, K'var and his fellow Kig-Yar found themselves on the bottom of the Covenant hierarchy. K'var had almost wished that the more sensible Sangheili would have ejected the brutish Jiralhanae from the Covenant. _Almost_.

Another thing A'kash disliked about being posted in these infernal tunnels wasn't just the fact that it was a degrading task. The narrow tunnels, humid air, and running machinery basically numbed all of his superior senses. The darkness hampered his eyes, the humidity nullified his nose, and the endless hum of machines deafened his ears. The Sangheili with their power armor, the Unggoy with their breather masks, and the humans with their inferior senses would not be as adversely affected as himself and his Kig-Yar brethren.

"Do you hear something?" A'kash cocked his head, trying to hear some inaudible sound.

K'var strained his ears, but all he could hear was the obnoxious humming of generators and sewage pumps. "No, nothing at all."

Suddenly, without warning, a large projectile shot past A'kash and K'var with incredible speed, its wake shoving both Kig-Yar against the sides of the tunnel. Both Kig-Yar looked on in horror as the tank shell continued down the tunnel and plowed straight into the small guard post that was set up farther back in the tunnel. The guard post, and a dozen of A'kash and K'var's fellow Kig-Yar was instantly incinerated in a ball of high explosive fire.

To make things worse, there was a loud clanking noise that began to overwhelm the background hum of machinery. A'kash and K'var both slowly turned, already knowing and dreading what was coming towards them.

With all of its armored fury, _Shiela_ charged down the tunnel like an angry mythical beast, spitting fire at anything that moved. A'kash yelped as a 7.62mm round pierced his thigh. K'var bent down to help his wounded comrade, when a grenade clattered onto the ground beside him. Thinking quickly, K'var grabbed the grenade and raised his arm to lob it back at where he believed the enemies were. Unfortunately for him, at the same exact moment, a rifle burst punched into his elbow, mangling his arm and causing K'var to drop the grenade. He watched in horror as the explosive clattered to the ground on his feet.

"Oh-"

Tarin winced a bit as the grenade made mincemeat out of the pair of Jackals.

"That was a nice shot, Lieutenant!" A passing Marine said, amazed.

"It was nothing." Tarin reloaded her rifle. "Now keep the column moving! If the Covvies didn't know we were coming, they do now!"

Even as she said these words, a long convoy of Warthogs, Scorpions, and Vipers trudged down the tunnel, with groups of vehicles splitting off at intersections to create multiple points of entry and confuse the Covenant defenders.

"It's just as we thought, Captain. The tunnels are playing hell with our wireless communications." Williams turned off his now useless radio. "We've managed to patch into the landlines built into the tunnel, but there's no guarantee that the Covenant won't be able to hear what we're saying."

"Well, that's why I brought some insurance along." Karla motioned to Mako and squad of Elite Black Ops troopers behind her. Mako nodded and one of the black-clad aliens popped open an access hatch and began fiddling with the controls within.

"What's he doing?" Williams asked curiously.

"He is ensuring that our communications cannot be heard by the false Prophets." Mako said proudly. "We are no strangers to the finer arts of electronic warfare."

"Either way, that gives us an advantage over the bad Covvies." Karla waved her arm to signal the convoy to keep moving forward. "Let's keep it moving!"

**Citadel Airspace**

"We're coming in low and fast." Barfbag announced as the Pelican slowly began to close the distance between it and the Citadel. Bright lances of plasma energy lanced out through the air in a vain attempt to hit the aircraft swarming all around it. "I'm in no mood to get nailed by a plasma turret, so please don't blame me if I have to take a little evasive action."

"Just get us down there in one piece and we'll call it even." Paccone grunted.

"Roger- oh shit!" Barfbag glanced at his radar screen and suddenly made a sharp dive, catching his passengers by surprise. Overhead, a pair of fuel rods flashed past, followed by the Banshees that had fired them. These clearly weren't friendly. "Going evasive!"

Barfbag maxed out throttle. The Pelican shot forward in a surge of speed, flying and weaving through multiple buildings and streets in an attempt to shake off the Banshees. However, the enemy craft were tenacious and kept close on his tail. To make things more interesting, the Pelican's fuel warning began to blare. That meant he only had about thirty minutes of flight time left, tops.

"We've got no time for a clean landing!" Barfbag yelled. "We're going in for a full-fledged combat drop!"

Everybody in the passenger compartment collectively groaned. Combat drops were generally saved for worst case scenarios or when the LZ was too hot for a Pelican to land safely. The drop involved the Pelican flying at the maximum height and speed allowed for a passenger to safely disembark, though in most cases the limit was much higher than that. The passengers would have to leap out of a moving Pelican without severely injuring themselves. Now, this kind of tactic was not much of a problem if the LZ was an open field of grass, but when missions required landing on a small piece of land like the rooftop of a building…

"Are you crazy?" Kumi yelled, suddenly glad that she was strapped into her seat. "If we go out too early, we're paint on the wall, and if we go out too late, we're paint on the ground!"

"That's what makes it interesting!" Paccone laughed and hit the hatch control switch. The Pelican's loading ramp slowly opened, giving the Marines inside a good view of their pursuers.

"Uh, Barfbag? I think you might want to fly a bit faster." Kumi glanced at the Banshees that were slowly growing larger.

"We're over in the roof in five!" Barfbag yelled. "Go go go!"

Kumi took a deep breath and leapt out of the rear hatch. She saw the purple roof of the Citadel rushing up at her. She instinctively curled in a ball and rolled the moment she struck the roof. However, since she was the last one out of the Pelican, that also meant she was the closest to the edge of the roof. The next thing Kumi knew, the ground disappeared underneath her and she was falling…

"Whoa there girl, can't have you dying on me yet!" Paccone grunted and he grabbed Kumi by the collar of her vest. The weight of her falling caused him to slide across the floor but some nearby Marines and Nicole proved more than enough to properly anchor him.

"Th-thanks Sarge." Kumi looked down at the endless abyss under her. "I owe you one."

"Damn, you move pretty fast for an old man." Sam teased through the radio. She had undoubtedly seen the entire scene from her position.

"I am _not_ an old man." Paccone grunted. "I should know, since your sister does not complain _at all_."

"Ooooh, you win this one, Sarge." Sam growled.

"What about Barfbag?" Kumi gasped as she was hauled back onto the roof.

"Aw, he's gonna be fine." Sam said casually. "He's probably pissing his pants right now, but everything's covered."

There were two distant _cracks_ that reverberated through the cityscape.

"And now loveable old Barfbag can fly home in relative safety." Sam said proudly.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Paccone waved to the other Marines who had landed on the roof. "Find whatever serves as the door to this damn place and bust it open. The Spartan goes in first and we mop up anything that's left!"

"Watch out, you've got drones coming up from the north side!" Sam warned.

Paccone, wasting no time, whipped around and drew his submachine gun. The storm of bullets ripped through the swarm of drones that began pouring over the edge. At the same time, a squad of Jackals and Brutes burst out from a hatch on the roof, which forced the Marines to divide their attention on two different fronts.

Kumi mainly concentrated on the Drones. The buckshot from her shotgun shells proved to be very effective against the fairly vulnerable and tightly packed Drones, sending insect parts flying and lifeless Drones tumbling to the distant ground below. Meanwhile, Nicole was already tearing through the Jackals and Brutes that had made their way to the roof. The surrounding Marines did a good job pinning the Jackals, leaving Nicole open to deal with the Brutes. She fired off several well controlled bursts from her battle rifle, taking down three Brutes with accurate headshots. A quick punch sent a fourth Brute flying straight off the edge of the roof, sending it plummeting to its death. The fifth and last Brute roared in rage and swung its huge bladed weapon at her. Nicole ducked and avoided the blade with almost superhuman speed. She then sent a powerful kick straight into the Brute's knee, shattering the kneecap and bending the entire leg the other way. The Brute roared in pain and fell over. Nicole then took the chance to leap onto its back, grab its head, and twist it around with a sickening _pop_. Nicole let the lifeless Brute fall to the ground and glanced at the Jackals. Demoralized by the loss of their heavy-hitters, the Jackals quickly broke ranks and ran, leaving them easy pickings for the Marines. One Jackal looked as if was about to reach the safety of the hatch when its head inexplicably exploded from an unseen bullet.

"No thanks are necessary." Sam said proudly.

"Let's move in!" Paccone yelled and jumped into the hatch, guns blazing.

**Utility Tunnels**

"Keep her rolling forward." Wrall said as _Shiela _rumbled down the tunnel. "And keep that cannon firing!"

"The damn transmission is acting funny!" Scottie complained.

"We're in a goddamn tunnel!" Wrall yelled back. "There's only so many directions we can go!"

"I'm just saying, that's all."

"The little bastards are running like the rats they are." Kazi grinned and she looked down her gunsights. "They're not putting up much of fight."

"Better for all of us that way." Shion said as she reached into the ammo compartment to grab another tank shell.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Jackal armed with a fuel rod cannon appeared from a hidden alcove and fired its weapon. The fuel rod slammed into the rear of the tank, melting armor and frying circuits. Some of the electrical systems shorted and began to catch fire.

"Shit, everybody out!" Wrall yelled, undoing his restraints and popping open the hatch.

With quick, drilled reactions, Scottie and Kazi immediately popped their escape hatches and clambered out of the tank. Wrall was about to do the same when he realized that he had lost track of Shion.

"Shion, where are you?"

"I'm coming!" Shion said. Unfortunately, the fire alarms detected the electrical fires and automatically attempted to seal the ammunition compartments. The door safeties were apparently not working, as the compartment door suddenly slammed shut on Shion's left arm. She screamed and cursed in pain while she tried to pull her arm out. "I'm stuck!"

Wrall paused for a second. He saw two choices before him. He could climb out of the hatch to safety, but that would mean having to leave behind Shion to her inevitable demise. On the other hand, if he stayed, there was the chance that he would be blown up along with Shion once the fires touched off the ammunition.

"Not this time." Wrall said to himself. He leapt down from his seat and rushed to Shion's station. He winced as the smoke from the fires stung his eyes and throat. He stumbled his way to Shion, who was still trying to free her pinned arm. "Stay still!"

Wrall grabbed the edge of the compartment door and pulled with all his might. The door m moved a bit, but not nearly enough to free Shion's arm.

"Get out of here, sir! I don't want you to die because of me!" Shion pleaded.

"No, I am NOT leaving one of my crew behind!" Wrall growled. He pulled harder against the compartment door.

Suddenly, without warning, the compartment door snapped open, making Wrall fall backwards in surprise. He quickly got up, grabbed Shion, and pushed her out through _Sheila_'s hatch. He quickly followed suit and escaped. However, before he left, he saw the compartment door slide back into place, sealing the ammunition off from the fires.

"Are you okay, sir?" Kazi asked as she and Scottie yanked Wrall out of the hatch.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How's Shion?"

"Her arm's busted up pretty bad, but the medics say that she'll be fine."

Wrall glanced over to see a pair of medics tending to Shion's injuries. They applied a quick-setting resin on her arm as a makeshift cast to prevent her from moving it and then escorted her back to the rear.

"That was quite a close call." Karla said as her Warthog pulled up. "Though what interests me is the fact that your creaky leaky old tank hasn't been blown to pieces. Actually, I don't think it's even on fire anymore."

"What?" Wrall glanced at _Shiela_. The fires that had threatened to engulf the tank and its surroundings were nowhere to be found, as if they had magically vanished. "I have no idea how that happened."

"Well, in any case, we can salvage her after the battle." Karla shrugged. "Though since you're not a tank commander without a tank, I suggest you sit this one out."

"No way, we came too far to back out now. Isn't that right?" Wrall turned to Scottie and Kazi.

"Give me a working gun and I'll take on the Covvies any day!" Scottie boasted.

"I'm in as well." Kazi agreed. "It may not have the same _oomph_, but a battle rifle does the job as well."

"Then I suggest we keep moving." Karla grinned. "We're almost there."

**Citadel**

"My lord, the infidels are beginning to penetrate our outer defenses." A Kig-Yar messenger said sadly. "I believe some of them may be inside the Citadel already."

"Alert the guards!" Lazarus yelled angrily. "Nothing gets inside the Citadel alive, even if it s our own retreating troops! The heretics must be kept from defiling this sacred place!"

The Jiralhanae honor guard nearby saluted and marched out of the room to meet the coming invasion. Already, Lazarus could hear the explosions and gunfire getting closer.


	10. Let's Summit This Bitch

AN: Just as a warning, because I naturally have no idea how Halo 3 ends and because I'm not going to wait until September to find out, some of the details in this fic will purposefully be kept vague.

Chapter 10: Let's Summit This Bitch

**Citadel Depths**

While it had been incredibly easy breaking though the Citadel's tunnels, Karla found that the assault had become increasingly more difficult as the Marines pushed deeper into the building. Thankfully, the corridors and hallways were large and spacious. She had always found Covenant architecture incredibly convenient in the fact that the interiors were large and open enough to accommodate a full size Warthog driving at a fairly high speed. A line of Jackals were understandably surprised when they found out that trying to hold off a several ton moving vehicle with their bodies was not a good idea.

"How's the insertion going, Sergeant?" Karla yelled into her radio over the roar of the Warthog's LAAG.

"We've broken in and are making our way down!' Paccone replied cheerfully, gunfire and alien screams in the background. "Like I said, I prefer being on top!"

Karla shook her head in disgust and cut the transmission. Vulgar innuendo aside, at least Paccone was making progress. She held on as the Warthog suddenly jarred upward as it ran over what looked like some kind of fountain.

"Damnit Williams, watch where you're driving! Even Warthogs have their limits!"

Karla held on as Williams drifted the Warthog around a tight corner, flattening a couple of Jackals and a Drone in the process. Karla looked around and saw that they had ended up in a front atrium area that resembled a large hotel lobby. Large windows let sunlight flow in, which reflected of massive, glittering columns of pearl. Lush plant life decorated most of the floor and there was a grand silver staircase leading up to the upper levels of the building.

Pity it was all going to be ruined in about five minutes.

At about that moment, four more Warthogs burst into the room and Mengk's Viper quite literally bashed through a wall to enter the atrium, knocking columns aside like bowling pins. By this time, the Covenant defenders were beginning to swarm out of the woodwork like a colony of angry ants defending their hive. Plasma bolts and hard rounds from Brute weapons began flying in all directions. In response, the Marines and Separatist Covenant returned fire with their own exotic mix of weaponry. Plants and columns alike disintegrated under the withering fire, and the mighty windows shattered into millions of pieces as Marine snipers outside began to find targets. Meanwhile, Mengsk's Viper pushed deeper into the atrium, cannon roaring. A squad of Marines and Elites used the vehicle as mobile cover while a small horde of Grunts swarmed around the sides. The other Warthogs darted around the room, weaving in between columns running down and shooting enemies and generally wreaking havoc among the enemy.

"Williams! I think it's time we take the high road!" Karla shouted.

Williams nodded, and with a sloppy grin, he swung the Warthog around and drove it straight up the silver staircase. The Covenant troops standing on it either had the choice of leaping off or being run down. Meanwhile, Tarin sprayed the second floor balcony with the LAAG, keeping the Covenant down. Once the Warthog cleared the top of the stairs, it was in position that literally turned the Covenant positions into a turkey shoot.

"Let them have it!" Karla yelled as she pulled out her assault rifle. Her rifle fire was joined by the unending torrent of rounds from the LAAG, which literally swept the entire balcony clear of resistance.

"Captain, the atrium is clear." Mengsk said proudly.

Karla briefly scanned the area. All of the Loyalist Covenant were either dead or incapacitated. The Marines and Separatists had taken some casualties too, but the losses weren't crippling. Also, it was at this point that the vehicles could no longer advance, unless there was an easier way to cram a Warthog into an elevator.

"Alright, Mengsk, take the armor out and hit the Covvie line from behind. I'm sure our Elite friends will appreciate us breaking up the Brute defenses for them."

"Roger, Captain!" Mengsk replied. His Viper and the Warthogs whipped around and shot out of the Citadel main entrance, guns blazing. There was a distant rumble and the rest of the Scorpions burst out of a nearby tunnel to join the assault.

"The rest of you, with me!" Most of the Marines would now be focused on breaking the Citadel's defenses from the inside or securing what territory they had taken. This left Karla with three squads of Marines, a squad of Elite Spec Ops, and a small horde of Grunts at her disposal to take out the Loyalist leadership.

"Mako, what floor is the big ugly furball supposed to be on?"

Mako deftly dismounted his Ghost and drew a Covenant carbine. "The Inner Sanctum is on the 90th floor. That is where we will find Lazarus."

**Floor 92**

Paccone basically led the way for five Marine squads down into the depths of the Citadel. The basic plan was to pincer the Covenant on the 90th floor and hit them from both sides. Doubtless Karla had the easy route and would basically take the lift straight up to the place. Here, however, Paccone and his comrades would have to fight their way down. At least it wasn't that far to the target.

"Sam, we could use some of that damn sniper support right about now!" Paccone yelled as he ducked a volley of Brute shots.

"You know, it would be a whole lot easier to draw a bead on them if _you weren't on the other side of the goddamn building_!" Sam snapped.

"Hey, lady, who said you could use that tone of voice?"

"She's just pissed that she missed a shot on a Brute." Leo said apologetically.

"How the hell could I miss something that big!?"

"Keep the channels clear!" Paccone grunted. "Just make sure you keep those windows clear."

"Looks like we've got to do this the old fashioned way." Kumi pumped her shotgun.

"Right. Let them have it!"

Behind them, two dozen assorted firearms opened up on the entrenched Covenant positions, forcing most of them to take cover.

"Go go go!" Paccone, Kumi, Nicole, and three other Marines took advantage of the Covenant's momentary lapse in fire to break cover and close distance. A Jackal raised its body to take a shot, but was quickly rewarded with a face full of buckshot for the trouble.

Kumi winced as a passing Brute shot minced the Marine to her right. She ignored the charred flesh and bone shards that spattered onto her armor and fired a double burst into a nearby Brute, knocking the huge alien down. Paccone leapt atop a barricade and then sprayed the Covenant cowering behind it with his assault rifle, killing three Jackals and wounding a Brute. He then finished it off with a pistol shot to the head. Suddenly, three more Brutes broke cover and charged them, their bladed weapons ready. Kumi pumped the last of shells into the nearest Brute, bringing it down before it could get close. Paccone deftly ducked under another Brute's swing as he slammed a new clip into his rifle. He rolled into a position to get behind it and fired everything he had. The Brute roared in fury and toppled backward, nearly crushing Paccone under its immense size. The other Marine, Kent, was not so lucky. The third and final Brute knocked his rifle out of his hands and then decapitated him with little effort. Fortunately, Nicole avenged the fallen Marine by slammed the butt of her rifle into the Brute's gut. The force of the blow was so great, that the rifle actually cracked. This made the Brute keel over involuntarily, giving Nicole a clear shot at its head. She brought her rifle down and slammed it into the back of the Brute's head. Both gun and skull shattered like glass and the Brute fell to the floor dead.

Without wasting a second, Nicole picked up the fallen Brute's weapon and stormed down the hall, ruthlessly gunning down and/or eviscerating any Covenant that dared stand against her.

"Never before have I looked on a girl with such fear and admiration." Paccone smirked.

"What about Captain Wellings?"

"More fear, less admiration." Paccone shrugged and waved the rest of the Marines to move forward. "Come on, we can't let her steal all the glory!"

**Floor 90**

Callidus stood ready and steadfast with his fellow Jiralhanae as they guarded the lift doors to the Inner Sanctum. Lazaraus had given every warrior in the Citadel to protect the Inner Sanctum at all costs. To lose it would to be to fail the Prophets, and this world would fall to darkness forever. Callidus was determined to prevent that from happening. If the heretics tried to come through the lifts, they would be ready.

However, there was this annoying, faint beeping noise emanating from somewhere. It annoyed Callidus to no end, but he could never quite figure out where the sound was coming from.

Meanwhile, the C7 charges planted exactly one floor above did exactly what they were designed to do. The high powered explosives detonated, causing the floor of the 91st floor, as well as the ceiling of the 90th floor, to come toppling down on top of the Jiralhanae defenders. Those Jiralhanae that survived the explosion and collapse were swiftly finished off by the dozen fragmentation grenades that clattered down the hole from above.

Then the lift doors opened.

"Excellent work as always, Sergeant Paccone." Karla grinned as she exited the lift. The Marines with her fanned out to the secure the area while Paccone and his Marines began dropping down from the freshly made hole. "Sam, confirm that you have line of sight of our position."

"Oh yeah, I can see you all right." Sam said. "Don't see anything yet, but it seems clear at the moment."

"Right, just keep an eye out." Karla turned to Mako and pointed at a pair of massive, heavily ornamented armored doors. "Hey, what can we do to draw this Lazarus guy out? We're going to need a LOT of C7 to take that door down."

"Jiralhanae have a dim view of cowardice." Mako snorted and readied his carbine. "Do not worry. He will bring the fight to us, and we will not have to wait long."

"So do we have a plan?" Captain Wrall asked.

"Simple. Whatever comes out of that door, we kill it."

"As is every other plan you've ever come up with." Paccone grinned as he joined the group. "Can't you just feel it? That gnawing thing in your gut telling you that this is going to be the epic, final battle?"

"Either that or it's just the crap we ate this morning." Scottie muttered.

"I suggest we keep our eyes on the door." Tarin said scathingly. "You know, in case they come out shooting."

Everybody suddenly grew grim and silent. Like before, Karla took a quick scan of the area around. The entire floor was basically an open room, with pillars, altars, and all sorts of religious memorabilia scattered about. The only other room on the entire floor was the one sealed off in the exact center of the floor. Mako mentioned that it was a private meditation chamber, where only Lazarus and the most elite of his Jiralhanae resided.

"I want squads one and two to hold the lifts. I don't want any enemy reinforcements catching us from behind." Karla said. "Squads three, four, and five keep an eye on the windows and flanks, in case they use Drones. Everybody else, watch the door."

"The outside is all clear by the way. The Drones weren't too keen on staying airborne when I spotted them." Sam remarked.

"I'll keep that in mind." Karla turned to Mako. "What's taking him?"

"What do you insects want?" A loud, powerful voice echoed throughout the room.

"To kick your furry ass!" Paccone yelled back.

"As my colorful Sergeant here put it," Karla cut in, "we're here to kill you."

"FOOLS! YOU DO NOT KNOW THE POWERS YOU MEDDLE WITH!" The voice bellowed. "SUBMIT, OR FALL FOREVER!"

"Yeah, well, we'll talk about it if you want to come out from your little hiding place." Karla shrugged. "Or you know, you can just cower in there until we either decide to blow you to hell or starve you out."

"Do you _dare_ insult my honor?" The voice growled.

"Am I?" Karla grinned. "I didn't know you had any."

"Boy, you sure do know how to piss people off." Kazi sniffed.

"It's a skill she's carefully honed since birth." Paccone grinned. "Heard she kicked the doctor in the face when he-"

"That's enough chatter." Karla snapped. "Eyes on the target."

"So, Captain Wellings." Mako kept his carbine trained on the door. "While I still can, I'd like to ask you a question."

"Sure. Go straight ahead."

"Did Holy ever speak of me at all when he was with you?"

"I'm sorry." Karla looked away. "He never brought it up and I never thought to ask. I was pretty surprised he even had any siblings at all."

Mako stayed silent and nodded.

Suddenly, there was a loud humming. The coalition of attackers glanced at the door to see it beginning to open. With a silent hiss, the doors slid open to reveal a large troop of heavily armed and armored Brutes led by one brandishing what looked like a cross between a scythe and a chainsaw. Doubtless it was Lazarus.

Both sides didn't even wait for the order to fire. Within seconds, the entire Inner Sanctum was awash with fire as both sides exchanged death and devastation.

"Aw man!" Williams cursed as he fired a burst at a nearby Brute, only to see the bullets bounce off. "And I thought these guys were tough enough _without _shields!"

"Just keep shooting!" Tarin growled. She took a Brute down with a carefully aimed headshot and then pointed to Kazi and Scottie. "You two! Give us some covering fire!"

Before Williams could protest, Tarin yanked him up to his feet and half dragged him across the room, darting from cover to cover until they reached the fallen Brute. The cover fire the two tankers were putting up was pretty sloppy, but at least it was keeping the Brutes distracted.

"Help me pick this up!" Tarin pointed to the fallen Brute's grenade launcher.

"What?" Williams looked down at the weapon. "I don't think I can carry that thing!"

"That's why I dragged you here with me!" Tarin sighed. "Help me out here!"

Both Marines managed to heave the massive weapon into a decent firing position. Tarin took careful aim and unloaded the last of the grenades in the Brute shot. Three high powered grenades blasted into a small knot of Brutes. Most of the Brutes shrugged off the blasts with their shields, but two were cut down with visible wounds. A third took a direct hit from a grenade and was sent flying out the window. A fourth Brute turned to return fire, but the window behind it suddenly shattered and its head exploded.

"Nice shot." Leo grinned.

"I do my best." Sam smiled, then cocked her head curiously. "What's that sound?"

Suddenly, a huge swarm of Drones began scrambling over the sides of the building. Their mouth parts and joints clicked and chattered like giant crickets.

"We must have really pissed them off!" Leo growled as he rolled onto his back, grabbed his rifle, and fired on the Drones.

"Apparently." Sam abandoned her comfortable firing position, drew her M6D pistol, and shot a Drone in the face. Bits of exoskeleton and ichor spattered on her armor. "Disgusting."

"Sam! Is something wrong?" Karla's voice pierced the radio.

"Uhhh, sniper support is no longer a viable support option at the moment." Sam ducked a burst of plasma fire and shot down the offending Drone with a three round pistol burst. "In other words, we're being swarmed by Drones so you're on your own."

"Keeps getting better and better." Karla sighed. Paccone, Wrall, circle around that altar thingie and see if you can flank those Brutes. Let's see if we can help out our Covenant friends."

Being the righteous beings they are, Mako and his fellow Elites broke ranks and moved in to engage the Brutes in close combat. Karla wasn't sure why, since she and her Marines were perfectly fine in their current firing positions. She assumed it was some sort of honor thing. Anyways, the Elites and Brutes were basically engaging each other with plasma swords, fists, and whatever crude object they could use as a melee weapon. At least it meant that less Brutes were shooting and more concerned with sparring with the Elites.

"Roger that." Wrall and Paccone broke cover and dashed to the altar Karla pointed out. However, Paccone was stopped by a passing Brute Shot and was forced to dive to the ground. Karla ran out and dragged Paccone back into cover before another Brute could draw a bead on him.

"Honestly, do I have to save you every time we get in a firefight?" Karla grunted as she pulled out a stray needler round from her left shoulderpad.

"It's not like I can deny a woman's services." Paccone said wryly.

Karla shook her head and fired her rifle at an approaching Brute. Its shields absorbed most of the punishment. The last few rounds managed hit solid flesh, but they were at best mosquito bites. Paccone followed up with his fresh clip and felled the giant alien with a burst to the head.

"Wrall, are you okay over there?" Karla yelled.

"Yeah!" Wrall nodded.

Unfortunately, no sooner was that said when a Brute holding a submachine-like weapon appeared and fired at Wrall. A storm of bullets shredded Wrall's right thigh and he fell down screaming. In a flash, Kumi was already there, trying to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the Brutes smelled an easy target and began concentrating their fire on Kumi and Wrall. Though they were now in cover, it would only be a matter of time before that altar crumbled or the Brutes would overrun them. Karla prepared to move in to support them, and she saw Tarin, Williams, and Wrall's crew ready to do the same, but there was too much fire and not enough cover between them and Wrall. If only they had some goddamn sniper support!

"I think that's the last of them." Leo gasped as he gazed at the dozen broken bodies of dead Drones.

"Thank god." Sam sighed as she holstered her pistol. "Now we can get back to-"

Before she knew it, a sudden and heavy weight landed on Sam's back. Sam stumbled and gasped for a second before realizing that a Drone had grappled onto her back. Immediately, her Marine training kicked in. She reached up, grabbed the Drone by the head, and flipped it over her shoulder, slamming it down on its back. Before it could do anything else, Leo blew its head open with a rifle burst.

"Well, that was interesting." Sam brushed some sweat off her brow. "Is my rifle where I left it? I hope those fuckers didn't mess with it."

"It's still there." Leo sighed.

"Sam!" Karla's voice exploded from the radio again. "You'd better still be alive or I will personally go over there and _kill you_ myself!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Sam said as she snuggled back into firing position. "What do you need?"

"Some good old fashioned sniper support!" Karla yelled. "Just shoot anything not friendly and do it now!"

"Right." Sam zeroed her rifle in on the first Brute she could see. "Leo, keep an eye out for any more bugs. With all those Brutes packed so tight in, I don't need a spotter."

"Got it."

Meanwhile, inside, things were getting more hectic. From her count, Karla saw at least two dozen Marine casualties, and was unsure how many losses the Elites suffered. There were about twelve dead brutes, but at least another twenty or so were left. Suddenly, a Brute went down hard with half of its head.

"That's it, go go go!" Karla and Paccone both dashed out from cover and sprinted for Wrall's position. From the edge of her vision, Karla could see her crew and Wrall's doing the same.

The next few seconds were somewhat a blur. Nicole, probably sensing that the battle had shifted, appeared out of nowhere and quickly and quietly eliminated two Brutes. One expired via snapped neck and the other from a caved in skull. Another Brute ran in and was shot down from apparently nowhere. Karla and Paccone both unloaded their rifles on another Brute, quickly draining its shields of energy. Tarin then swept in like a wraith and knifed the Brute in what she assumed was where its kidneys were. The alien roared in pain and fell, enabling Williams, Kazi, and Scottie to finish it off.

"Boy are you a sight for sore eyes." Kumi said once Karla and Paccone slid down next to her.

"How is he?" Karla asked.

"I've stopped the bleeding, but he can't stay here, for obvious reasons."

"You two, get him out of there." Karla pointed to Kazi and Scottie. Their hearts were in the right place, but they ultimately made better tankers than infantry.

"Don't worry, Captain, we'll get your fat arse outta here." Scottie grunted as he hauled Wrall up.

"Shit, he's heavier than I thought." Kazi said.

Once Kazi and Scottie managed to get the injured Wrall clear of the area, Karla took the chance to scan the area again. The Brutes were beginning to noticeably thin, but they were still putting up a stiff resistance. Suddenly, Karla saw Mako flying through the air. She ducked in alarm and saw the Elite smash into a nearby pillar. Karla quickly scrambled up to the fallen Elite.

"Hey, you okay?"

"No."

"Alright, just checking." Karla hauled Mako up to his feet. "What the hell happened?"

"I underestimated Lazarus' abilities." Mako growled.

As he said this, Karla caught sight of the Brute she believed was Lazarus. He was hefting that same massive scythe. Three plasma sword-wielding Elites closed in and surrounded the Brute. It didn't seem deterred and easily fought the three Elites off. Then, in one clean stroke, the Brute effortlessly cleaved the Elites in half.

"I'll take care of it." Nicole said simply before dashing off back into the thick of battle.

The Marines watched in awe and wonder as Nicole engaged the Brute in mortal combat. Nicole fought the Brute with a borrowed plasma sword and her fists, and was actually holding her own. However, she couldn't find a way past the Brute's defenses. The Marines' awe and wonder then quickly turned to horror. Nicole made a mistake and carried through an attack with a little too much power. She overreached and left herself open for one critical second. Lazarus took advantage of the Spartan's momentary weakness and gave a murderous swing of his scythe. The blade sheared through both energy shielding and MJIOLNIR armor and Nicole collapsed with a massive gash in her chestplate.

"Shit!" Without losing a beat, Karla was already sprinting, dodging other Brutes, Elites, and Marines. She fired her rifle at Lazarus, which failed at doing much damage but succeeded in drawing his attention. Before he could do much more though, Mako tackled him to the ground and both aliens began brawling.

"You!" Karla pointed at Paccone, Tarin, Williams, and Kumi. "Get Nicole out of here!"

"But-" Kumi hesitated.

"NOW!" Karla yelled. "Do you know how goddamn heavy a Spartan is with all that armor? It'll take all four of you just to move her to the other end of the room!"

"You heard the lady." Paccone said and grabbed one of the fallen Spartan's arms. "You come back alive, you hear me, lady?"

"Last I checked, I'm ranking officer." Karla shot back.

Paccone glanced at Karla for a second. He opened his mouth to say something more, but he closed his mouth shut and helped Tarin, Williams, and Kumi drag the wounded Spartan out of the room.

"Well now, I guess it's just me." Karla said to herself. She tossed her rifle aside and drew Holy's plasma sword. All of her rifle ammo was expended anyways.

By this time, Lazarus had finally managed to throw Mako off. He noticed Karla lunging in just in time to block her swing. His scythe Deathswing generated its own magnetic field, which allowed it to repel the vaunted plasma swords the Sangheli favored so much.

Karla was visibly surprised and had to throw herself to the floor in order to avoid Lazarus' deadly scythe. She swung her plasma sword but the weapon merely bounced off of Lazarus' powerful energy shielding.

"You dare cross the Prophets' Chosen?" Lazarus roared as he swung Deathswing again. "Then you shall pay the price, human!"

Karla managed to dodge the swing, but wasn't quick enough to dodge Lazarus' arm. Karla felt the air get pushed out of her lungs as the back of Brute's fist struck her side. She felt several ribs literally snap under the force and she toppled to the floor, gasping for air. Mako again charged Lazarus. Thinking quickly, Karla mustered up the last of her strength and tossed Holy's plasma sword into the air. Mako effortlessly caught the weapon so he was now wielding two plasma swords at once. With two weapons now, Mako literally became a whirlwind of plasma powered death. Lazarus was kept constantly on the defensive as he was forced to block all of Mako's attacks. In her condition, Karla wasn't in a position to do much of anything. However, a strange glint in the distance gave her an idea.

"Mako! Herd him this way!" Karla shouted.

Mako nodded and began press his attacks more, forcing Lazarus backward and towards the area Karla was pointing to.

"Foolish Sangheli." Lazarus gloated. "What do you hope to accomplish with your pitiful attacks? We both know that you will tire before I do."

"Hey, ugly." Karla grinned as the Brute turned to face her. "He was just making sure that you got into my sister's line of sight."

"What-"

Suddenly the pane of glass behind Lazarus shattered and the heavy round from Sam's rifle impacted against his chest. His shields sparked and failed as the round punched through his chestplate and sternum. The round then fragmented, scattering dozens of pieces of shrapnel throughout his chest cavity. Not even a Brute could shrug off such catastrophic damage. Lazarus dropped his scythe and slumped to the ground on his knees.

"Lazarus." Mako said dutifully as he approached the incapacitated Brute. "In the power vested in my by the Sangheli High Council, I deem your life and existence as unworthy."

Mako didn't even wait for Lazarus to retort or defend himself. Just like that, Mako drew his twin plasma swords and like a pair of energized scissors, decapitated the most powerful Brute on the planet. The Elites and Marines who managed to see the spectacle cheered. The Brutes, realizing their leader was dead, went into a homicidal rage, but their irrational anger only made it easier for them to be defeated. Within minutes, there wasn't a single Brute alive in the Citadel.

"I must admit, that was some very clever thinking there." Mako powered down his swords. "Though I would have preferred to have slain Lazarus myself, your way was just as effective."

"So… is that it?" Karla said as Mako helped her up. "What happens now?"

"With their leader dead and their final stronghold lost, it will only be a matter of time before the traitors are hunted down and exterminated."

"A charming thought."

"So, it looks like we're going to have a bit of free time after all this dies down."

"Possibly. However, there is much to do. There will be much rebuilding, especially after all the devastation this war has wrought."

"Not a bad idea either."

"Before I forget." Mako handed Karla Holy's plasma sword. "I believe this is yours."

Karla's eyes widened in surprise. "Isn't that-"

"If Holy trusted you enough to bear his sword, then you are worthy of it. I owe my brother that much."

Karla took the sword, still a bit awed by the Elite's charity. "Thanks..."

"Now come, such an occasion deserves a celebration! I do not know what you humans do after a battle, but we Sangheli must celebrate our victory and pay respects to our fallen."

"Hmph. I guess we have more in common than we think." Karla sighed and winced as she remembered that her ribs were broken. "You think you can help me up to the roof? I've got a little flag that I'm _dying_ to plant."

**Three Weeks Later**

The final battle for the Citadel had taken a large toll for all sides involved. Over a hundred fifty Marines had died, with three hundred more casualties. Total Covenant casualties were much higher, with hundreds of thousands of troops either dead, wounded, or missing.

Though the Marines had established their presence well on Karth, even after three weeks living with the Covenant, the humans were still seen as somewhat of an oddity. The Covenant were too busy rebuilding their shattered cities and infrastructure to care much anyways, so the Marines were able to consolidate their positions within what was left of New Mombasa without many problems. However, under orders from Major Mackenzie to promote their public image, Marines were often sent out to assist with the rebuilding efforts.

Wrall and his crew spent most of the time trying to rebuild _Shiela_. Using some junked parts from both human and Covenant vehicles, they miraculously got the old tank working again. Karla wasn't sure why they went through the trouble for a vehicle they obviously hated so much but later shrugged it off. People often did things that never made sense. Wrall was still hobbling around on a makeshift crutch while Shion walked alongside him with her arm in a hastily set cast. Kazi and Scottie were still as combative as ever, trading rude comments and insults as they dug into _Shiela_'s innards.

Tarin and Williams were busy trying to keep the remaining Marines in shape. They could often be seen patrolling the streets of New Mombasa, chastising any Marines they deemed lazy or unfit. Of course, people protested, but it was hard to argue from a position of confidence if your opponent had the balls to take down Brutes with nothing but a combat knife.

Paccone and his squad of dirty little misfits were often seen roaming New Mombasa, stirring up all kinds of trouble for both Marines and Covenant alike. When they weren't pissing off every person they could find, they actively assisted the Covenant in hunting down rogue packs of Loyalists that survived the final battle at the Citadel. Even after three weeks, there were a number of survivors causing trouble.

Nicole was still confined to the Marines' makeshift infirmary. The scythe she was hit with missed her heart by inches and caused all sorts of havoc. It also didn't help that the scythe made cuts so fine that Pennert was literally forced to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding. The Spartan was conscious, just barely, but was in no condition to be moving around.

Karla, meanwhile, was sitting with Mako in one of the freshly rebuilt towers. At Karla's request, Mako had agreed to give Karla some rudimentary training in the fine art of the plasma sword. True, Karla would still be repeatedly beaten badly by Mako's superior skill and strength, but at least she was confident she could hold her own in a fight.

Things appeared to going well, that is, until an unidentified ship suddenly appeared in orbit around Karth.

"My god, it's the _Freedom_." Mackenzie gasped, the color draining out of his face.

"Are you serious?" Karla glanced at the data screen. "Holy shit."

"This is Captain Rogers of the UNSC warship _Freedom_." The radio next to them buzzed. "Are there any UNSC forces listening to this message?"

"Captain Rogers, this is Major Mackenzie. Boy are you a sight for sore eyes." Mackenzie replied. "You don't seem surprised that the Covenant aren't shooting at you."

"Believe me, a _lot_ has happened on Earth. Too much and too secret for me to discuss on an open channel."

"Can you at least tell me how you found us?"

"Long story short, Joshua figured out that instead of being annihilated, you were pulled along in Slipspace in the cruiser's 'wake' and managed to track you here."

"I took you three weeks?"

"Actually three hours, but certain events around here prevented us from acting on it."

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

"I'm looking forward to it."

**Epilogue**

**Unknown Location**

Captain Ryan Hubbard made his way down the hall. The entire facility was in a huge ruckus as intelligence agents, data analysts, and all kinds people were trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Something big had happened on Earth and nobody here was totally sure what yet.

However, the Director didn't seem to be surprised at all. Personally, Hubbard suspected that the Director already knew what was going on, but purposefully withheld the information just to see his subordinates scramble around in a panic. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise. As the chief overseer of all four sections of ONI (or was it five? Hubbard could never really remember.) the Director knew _everything_. If knowledge was power, then the Director could be considered God. Hubbard finally fought his way into one of the facility's lifts. Making sure he was alone, he punched in a secret code that allowed the lift to open on Director's floor. Once the lift reached its destination, Hubbard shuffled out of the lift and made his way to a plain wooden door with a metal plaque that had the word "DIRECTOR" engraved on it.

The room was pretty much how it always was. It looked like a standard office that had rather substandard lighting. The Director preferred to work in low light conditions. Hubbard never knew why and never asked.

"I see you are ahead of schedule as always, Captain Hubbard." The Director said cheerfully. "So what do you have?"

"Well, I've been keeping tabs on the targets of interest like you said." Hubbard shuffled through several files. "So, do you want to hear them all right now?"

"Of course." The Director said calmly.

Hubbard was curious as to why the Director was interested in a bunch of Marines, rather than the events swirling around Spartan-117 and the Covenant Arbiter. However, he had a duty to fulfill and he was in no place to question the Director.

"Well… let's see. First up is Spartan-458. She's been transferred to a secure facility for full debriefing. Next up is Captain Wrall and his tank crew. Their request for a new tank has finally gotten through, though they have refrained from turning over their old tank and requesting private ownership of it."

"I see no problem with that. We were probably going to junk it anyways."

"Captain Tarin Richards and Lieutenant…" Hubbard squinted but there was apparently some kind of misprint that rendered the next word unreadable. "…Williams are currently trying to rebuild and reorganize their unit after the losses they had taken."

"Go on."

"Privates Kumi Leeds, Leonardo Carter, and Samantha Wellings have all decided to stay in the Marines. Surprise surprise. Anyways, they are currently not on active duty with no upcoming assignments."

"We'll have to rectify that problem. It would be a pity to let such talent lay around unused, especially our little Samantha."

"Right…" Hubbard flipped through his files again. "Major Karla Wellings and Sergeant Ronald Paccone are currently on extended leave. Our agents managed to track them as far as Aeola until they went off the grid and shook off our pursuit. I'm afraid to say that we really have no idea where they are."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll turn up eventually." The Director laughed.

"And that last piece of business." Hubbard continued. "I've run every background check and test we could on this 'Private Scohar', but every check turns up nothing. It's as if the guy never existed. I've even tried running his ID number but it keeps returning this guy named Jenkins who was confirmed MIA weeks ago."

"All right. We put our full resources on this. I want to know who he was, where he was born, what his favorite food was, and what scares him at night. I want this done _now_."

"Yes sir." Hubbard saluted and turned to leave the office.

"Actually, hold on there, Captain." The Director said coolly. "Forget what I just said."

"Sir?" Hubbard looked at his boss curiously.

"Consider my previous orders countermanded. You'll find details of your next assignment in your office."

"Okay…" Hubbard saluted. He was a bit confused at the Director's sudden change in mind. As he turned to exit the office, he thought he caught sight of something on the edge of his vision. It looked as if there was a little girl whispering something in the Director's ear. Hubbard whipped around, but only saw the Director sitting alone at his desk.

"Did you forget something?" The Director asked, completely unfazed.

"Uhhh, nothing sir." Hubbard wiped some sweat off his brow. "Just seeing things."

"Alright then." The Director smiled. "Dismissed."

**Sanctum of the All**

WHEW! It's finally finished! This concludes the current story arc, but don't worry, I've got more adventures planned for Karla and her fellow misfit Marines. Unfortunately, some of this is gonna be banking on how Halo 3 turns out, so here's to the hope that the game does NOT get delayed any further!

However, this doesn't mean I'm gonna stop writing. The Long Road Home is still going on, and there is yet another fic just coming out of the pipeline, so stay tuned!

Anyways, thanks for reading and sticking with this to the end!


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